Identity
by Once Upon A Spazz
Summary: "I'm thinking of adopting a last name. Not now, but another day, when I'm an actual agent, a great agent... What do you think of 'Agent Skye Avery?" Skye-centric. Several moments in Skye's life where she belongs somewhere. Post 'Seeds' Now complete.
1. Her Story Started Here

"What will you do now?"

Skye turned slightly, glancing over her shoulder for a moment before answering, "I'll keep going." Ward nodded slightly, his lips quirking just slightly.

"There's never gonna be a day where I don't wonder who my parents are, but I belong somewhere now. I've always belonged. I just didn't know it until now..."

For a little while, it didn't matter to Skye that she didn't know her origins. She was just glad to have somewhere to go.

Ward took a step closer to her, as if in prompt for her to continue. She grazed a finger across the name on the wall, taking it in once more that this woman, this remarkable woman, had died protecting her.

She threw a glance over her shoulder again to see Ward standing, waiting for her to say something more. A stray tear fell down her cheek and to the floor. She took a breath. "I'm thinking of adopting a last name. Not now, but another day, when I'm an actual agent, a great agent... What do you think of 'Agent Skye Avery'?"

Ward gave a small, but sincere smile. "I think it sounds perfect."


	2. Something to Celebrate

"What's all this?" Skye's eyes were flicking between the stack of gifts and her team members, unsure how she should be reacting.

Coulson smiled and stood from his seat and picked up one of the presents off the pile and placed it gently into Skye's hands. "They're for you. This is a birthday party—a birthday party for you." Skye blinked again.

Simmons spoke up, "We figured that since you don't know your birthday—"

"Well, we figured we could celebrate the day—"

"—the day you joined the team. It's been a year you know!" Simmons finished after Fitz's intervene.

Skye blinked surprised. "So… you two put this together?"

FitzSimmons shook their heads in unison before Simmons spoke, "No. I mean, _yes, _we helped set everything together but it was all of us. Technically, it was—"

"It was my idea." May interrupted Simmons, shifting slightly in her seat. "Figured today would be a good day to celebrate." Her eyes were filled with mirth despite her barely changing expression "I think you'll like my gift."

Skye's jaw practically dropped but she quickly caught herself. "I—Wow. Thank you," Skye glanced at Ward, who was leaning against the wall, smiling gently. "What about you, Ward? Did you have anything to do with this?" Her attention shifted from May to the Ops. agent.

He met her eyes and his smile deepened slightly. "I may have had a hand in setting up. My present's the one wrapped in newspapers, by the way."

The smile that broke out on Skye's face was infectious as the entire team found themselves smiling along with her. Even May wore a small smile.

"I don't know how to thank you guys. This is really great…"

"Don't thank us, Skye. We're not just celebrating your birthday. We're celebrating the day we found a friend." Coulson turned to Skye, his eyes shining with affection.

Dropping the small gift in her hands onto the counter, Skye immediately wrapped her arms around Coulson, hugging him gratefully. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her as well. "Thanks, AC. This means a lot."

They unraveled their arms from around each other and took a step back. "No problem, Skye. Now open your presents. I think there might be some Captain America memorabilia in there somewhere." Coulson winked, going back to his seat next to May.

"Oh you'll love what I made you, Skye! Some of my best work, I'd say!" Fitz grinned at Skye, gesturing to a present wrapped in monkey covered paper.

She grinned at Fitz before grabbing the small gift Coulson had handed her and tearing into the wrapping paper, tossing it everywhere.

The neatly wrapped box turned out to contain a bracelet with charms from all the places they'd had missions in. There was a charm from everywhere they'd gone and one shaped like a laptop and another like a S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia.

As Skye tore into her presents one after another, she couldn't help thinking that _this _is what it felt to be in a family. FitzSimmons were constantly badgering her to open their gifts to her while Ward rolled his eyes good naturedly in the corner. May and Coulson stood back and watched, looking proud when Skye ended up opening their presents first and loving them to bits.

_Yeah, this is family. _


	3. Just As Good

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Skye? Are you sure you wanna see him?" Coulson turned to Skye, his brows furrowed and his eyes filled with concern.

Skye nodded, biting her lip to stop herself from saying 'no' and walking away. She needed to do this. Skye reached out a hand and took hold of the steel doorknob. She took a deep breath before turning the knob and walking in.

"Skye?" Miles's confusion was clear on his face as he saw Skye walk in, an emotionless expression painted across her face. Skye strode in with more confidence than she felt, closing the door softly.

"It's been a while." Skye's eyes flicked to his, flickering with rage before dimming once more. "We, the team and I, I mean, we got an alert about a few shady deposits made a week ago. And what do you know? We found you. You're getting sloppy."

"Sk—"

"No. We settled this last time. I'm not going to even try and get you out of this. It was clever, you know. Planting the bracelet on a stand-up guy after somehow managing to disengage it. Not clever enough though." She shot him a glare as she tossed the manila folder onto the metal table where Miles was handcuffed.

"Now here's how this is going down. I'm going to talk and I want you to listen carefully. The only way for you to get out of this box is to put on another bracelet, this one designed by my friends, FitzSimmons. And trust me when I say, it won't come off without the express intention of S.H.I.E.L.D. Otherwise, you'll be here for a while."

Miles' jaw hung open as he stared at Skye, taking in all the differences. "What did they do to you?"

She swung her body around to glare at him. "This isn't about me. This is about you, and the fact that you were never the person I thought I knew. But you know what? You wanna hear how I've been? I'll tell you."

Something shifted in her gaze and it became lighter and her eyes softened. "I found out who I am. And I found my family,"

Her expression was shut down within a second as she returned back to her interrogation face. "Someone will be in later with your bracelet. And for your sake, I'd really consider putting it on."

Miles stood abruptly, jerked slightly by the handcuffs attached to the table. "Wait! You found your parents?"

Skye walked out the door without turning around or responding. When she shut the door behind her, she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Coulson smiled sadly at her before placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. After a moment, he pulled away and turned down the hallway.

Skye smiled at his retreating form.

_No Miles, I didn't find my parents. But I found something just as good. _


	4. Level One

Skye strutted about the Bus, pumping her fist every few minutes in victory. Everyone else would be back soon but for the moment, Skye celebrated her accomplishment on her own. Loud music pumped through the halls and echoed along the walls.

Skye didn't notice when someone entered the plane until May was already seated at the counter, her normal expression in place and a drink already in hand.

"So I take it that it went well."

Skye startled from her dancing, spinning to face May. "Holy crap, May, a little warning next time. Where are the others?" She drew in on herself wrapping her arms around her middle, shifting from foot to foot.

"I'll take that into consideration. The others are unloading the supplies. How did it go?"

"I did it. I really did it." Skye's smile grew back to her eyes as she spoke, slowly relaxing her arms back to her sides. "I passed my evaluation. I'm an official agent now."

May nodded, already having figured out why she was so ecstatic. "Good job, Skye. You've earned it. Nobody will be able to refer to you as just a consultant anymore."

Skye smiled down at the ground bashfully. "It's great. I now have level one clearance."

May let a small smile grace her lips. "Soon enough you'll be moving up the ranks. S.H.I.E.L.D. will want you for plenty of missions. Be proud, Skye."

"Well, even when I do move up, I'll stay right here. This is my team. All of you, well you're…" _family _Skye thought.

"I know."

Skye raised her head to look May in the eyes, seeing in her eyes that she really _did _know what Skye meant. Her smile shrunk but remained just as sincere.

"You know... they told me that now that I'm level one, I'll need to start on my other skills as an agent. I figured maybe you could teach me to fly? I mean if not it's totally ok and I know you're busy an—"

"Sure."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes. We'll start tomorrow after your workout with Agent Ward. Be ready." With that last word, May stood, having finished her drink, and walked away, her lips just quirked slightly.

A/N: If anyone wants to, I'd be willing to take drabble requests for this series. I'd consider doing some drabbles with some ships in them but I can't promise I'd do every single one since I wanna keep the story mostly ship free for now and plus I don't ship everything that might be requested.


	5. Imitation

A/N: A guest requested I write a drabble where May finds out about Skye's use of her name in getting information about Coulson's whereabouts. Here it is. By the way, I won't be writing any more drabbles until the weekend because of school and play rehearsals. So you can expect several drabbles each weekend but after today, no drabbles during the week. This tales place shortly after Seeds.

"Skye's training is going well, huh?" Coulson glanced at May, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

May nodded, her eyes remaining focused on the screen that showed Skye and Ward training on the mats. Skye was swerving out of the way of Ward's quick jabs, even managing to sweep a foot under Wards', effectively making him stumble before he caught himself and sent another flurry of jabs her way. A moment later, he had her arms in a lock behind her back and he was smirking slightly down at her.

"Ward is training her well."

Coulson grinned wider, nodding slightly. "She's certainly come a long way from the hacker we picked up. You know, I think she gets some of her fighting style from you. Has she told you how she managed to get Intel on my whereabouts?"

May shook her head slightly, turning to face Coulson, her eyebrow raised in question. "How?"

"She pretended to be you and got Lloyd Rathman to give her access to his transaction records."

"Hm. That explains the outfit she was wearing."

Coulson glanced back at the screen for a moment where Skye was throwing a few punches and kicks at the punching bag. "I think even though you both have some issues seeing eye to eye, she looks up to you."

May let her lips shift into something resembling a smile. "She's a good kid. She'll go far one day. Might have rookies imitating _her _eventually." Throwing a glance back at the screen, May watched Skye manage to kick the punching bag hard enough that Ward was thrown slightly.

Both agents continued to watch Skye and Ward train, a twinge of pride running through both of them.


	6. Flying Lessons

A/N: It seemed by the reviews that several people wanted to see a flying lesson. This happens a few months after Skye becomes an official level one agent. The next prompt request will be posted either later tonight or tomorrow at some point. Keep the requests coming.

"So I just—"

"No. Tighten your grip. You don't want the plane to lose too much altitude so you've got to keep your hands steady." May demonstrated the proper grip before gesturing to Skye to try again.

Skye nodded quickly before readjusting her grip. "Is this good?"

May gave a small nod before turning back to her side of the cockpit. "Now I want you to demonstrate how to start the engines."

"Right. Engines." Skye leaned forward, murmuring to herself as she went through the steps systematically. Her hands flicked across the buttons on the dashboard in a similar way to how they flicked across the keyboard of her laptop. When she pressed the last button, it flickered before a roaring sound was emitted from the vents.

"Good." May's eyes followed each movement of her hands, waiting for any possible mess up but coming up short when the sound came through. "You've been practicing."

"Yeah… Coulson found a simulation program from one of the academy courses. I've been using it on my laptop."

"You're doing very well, Skye. In a few weeks, you'll be ready to go on a practice flight. You'll be done with the simulator."

Skye beamed in pride. "That's awesome! I'm so ready to actually see some clouds."

May tilted her head slightly before giving Skye a small pat on the back. "Don't get ahead of yourself. There'll be plenty of time for actual flying once you've got your license to fly solo. We've still got a few weeks before I can take you on a practice flight. Keep up the practice."

Skye deflated, letting her shoulders sag and her lips pucker into a pout. She glanced at May's expression before letting a small smile creep back onto her face. "Yeah… All the same, I'm excited. I'll be useful for something besides hacking."

"You're useful as you are, Skye. Don't forget that." May spoke sincerely, her words stern as she turned to look once more at the aspiring agent.

Skye's eyes widened at May's words, however brief they were. She was taken aback by the forcefulness May used. She froze for a moment before speaking, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For believing in me."


	7. Reputation

A/N: Requested by maricejayo.

"I'll see you all in a week! Don't go on any super cool missions without me! I mean it!" Skye playfully narrowed her eyes at the team as they all said their goodbyes to Skye for the week.

"The bus will feel so empty without you, Skye. We'll miss you!" Simmons shouted to Skye as the van started to move away from the curb. Skye smiled, waving cheerfully at her friends before turning to take in her surroundings. She stood in front of a tall glass paned building where various people walked in and out. Taking a deep breath, she strode up to the doors and swiped her I.D. card and walked in.

Walking in, Skye was surrounded by other agents, all wearing some form of uniform for training. Recalling her map, Skye looked for which way she needed to go.

Moments later, Skye was in the elevator, on her way to the eleventh floor when it opened and a young agent in training walked in. "Which floor?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, eleven. I'm starting my group training today." The girl seemed somewhat awkward in the way she shifted from foot to foot, in excitement or nervousness, Skye couldn't tell.

"Really? Me too!" Skye smiled brightly at the girl who seemed to gain some confidence at her words.

The girl breathed out, her shoulders relaxing. "Cool. I'm Talia Evans, or I guess, Agent Evans." She held out a hand towards Skye.

Leaning towards her, Skye gripped her hand and shook it firmly. "Skye."

Talia blinked several times in surprise before letting go of Skye's hand and shifting away slightly. For the rest of the elevator ride, Talia shot glances at Skye when Skye's attention moved to other occupants of the elevator who got on and off as they continued upward.

…

Throughout Skye's first day, every time she introduced herself to the other training agents, they would seize up or find an excuse to stop chatting with her and she had no clue why. Finally, after a long day of practicing, she set out to figure the situation out.

Skye slowly made her way near to Talia, creeping along the wall until she was right behind Talia before speaking. "What do you know?"

Talia jumped from her seat on the bench before twisting around to stare at Skye. "I'm sorry?" Skye rolled her eyes, clearly unconvinced of Talia's confusion.

"About _me. _Everyone's been avoiding me all day after I say my name. I wanna know why."

Talia stared in disbelief at Skye for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "Like you don't know! You shouldn't be in a level one training group!"

Skye leaned back, feeling a tendril of insult creeping up her back. _"Excuse me?" _She furrowed her eyebrows and glared at Talia, her lips curling downward.

Talia's eyebrows shot up as she realized how Skye must have taken her words. "No, no, no! I didn't mean you don't _deserve _to be here! I only meant that you should be training with the other levels!"

It was Skye's turn to blink in confusion as all anger drained out of her. "What?" she asked dumbly.

Talia let out a slight laugh, smiling up at Skye, who stood in front of her. "You've trained with Agent Ward, and Agent May. That's about the best training any rookie could ask for. You should be applying to take your level two evaluation by now."

"Wow."

…

A week later, Coulson drove up to the front of the tall building in Lola, waving when he saw Skye walking out the door, her suitcase rolling behind her.

Skye waved back, smiling brightly.

After putting her suitcase in the trunk, Skye plopped into the passenger seat, and wrapped her arms around Coulson, hugging him quickly. Coulson chuckled as she hugged him, gently wrapping his own arms around her and giving her a quick pat on the back. "So how did it go? Did you make some new friends?"

Skye laughed, pulling away. "Oh yeah. I made plenty of friends in my training for level two."

Coulson's eyes widened. "Level two?"

"Yep. Turns out being trained by three top agents means I'm a bit ahead of the other rookies."

Coulson chuckled, glancing towards the small group of young agents that was watching them. "Should I be expecting mail from any level one admirers for you, then?"

Skye's eyes flicked towards the group, a toothy smile stretching across her lips. "Maybe a few."


	8. Aftermath: Part 1

A/N: This will be a two part thing. This takes place maybe 2/3 of a year after the last drabble. Enjoy! Requested by Salkri Kachemench.

Skye's breath filled the room, her eyes glazed with tears and her lip bleeding. Her hair was in knots and her wrists were sore from being cuffed so long. Her chest heaved up and down with her labored breaths and pain struck her very being as she lied there, thinking.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was a routine mission. It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did. She wasn't supposed to have been captured. But here she was, locked in a dark and damp room with nothing but her pain to keep her warm. They'd tried to interrogate her. They'd tried to juice her for all the secrets she had. She didn't give them anything though. But that came with a price.

They'd taken all of her technology. But hopefully, the scent tracker she wore would lead her rescue right to her.

…

It was three days, four hours, and eighteen minutes after her capture when the heavy door opened with a scratching sound on the cement floor. She was expecting another round of punches, knives, slaps, and threats but she was met with the sight of Ward, staring down at her with so much concern that her eyes spilled over with hot, salty, tears. She wanted to brush it off and say she was fine but only a small sobbing noise fell from her lips.

…

Approximately two hours and ten minutes later, she was back on the Bus, being treated for all her injuries, cuts, and bruises. Everyone waited with concern and curiosity for her to tell them what happened but her lips remained closed, and her expression stayed neutral. If not for the redness of her eyes, she hardly looked like she'd been crying at all.

She went on for days without making a sound, until in her haste to finish some experiment with Fitz, Simmons dropped a glass beaker. It shattered to the floor in a cascade of shards and liquid. Skye just so happened to be nearby when it fell.

The sound of the glass shattering set something off in Skye and all of a sudden, she was curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing, her lips pressed so tightly together, her split lip began to bleed. Someone was at her side immediately, rubbing her back and whispering soft words to her. It was only after she finally reopened her eyes that she realized it was Ward who was by her side, having seen her collapse when coming down the stairs.

"It's gonna be alright, Skye. It's gonna be fine. You're safe…" He rubbed his hands up and down her shoulders and back, trying to soothe her panicking.

Soon enough, everyone was huddled around Skye, all so badly wanting to make the pain go away, to make it so her capture had never happened. Simmons was close to tears, looking at her friend in so much terror. Fitz held Simmons' hand while they both leaned down close to Skye and each held one of her hands in one of their own.

…

Several hours later, Skye was asleep, having tired herself out from crying so much. Her head rested against Ward's chest and her hands were loosely grasped in Fitzsimmons' hands.

Coulson and May were seated on the floor a few feet from the others, watching. Their gazes were trained on Skye's form, waiting for the slightest movement to send her back into a fit. Coulson's eyebrows were knit and his lips were pulled downward in a deep frown, concern lacing each and every one of his features.

May's expression remained mostly neutral, but her fists were balled at her sides, anger lining her veins at the ideas of what the captors could have done.

…

In the middle of the night, when Skye woke up, she nearly started panicking again before realizing she was surrounded by her team. Her team members were all asleep in random positions but all protectively surrounding her. Skye shifted slightly to see Coulson and May leaned against a wall, their eyes closed but their postures stiff. Skye was sure they were just barely asleep.

As she shifted back into Ward's chest, she was grateful to her team. She'd said nothing at all about what she'd been through, even when she broke, but they came to her, and encircled her with comfort, and love to evaporate the memories she was reliving.

She resolved to tell them in the morning. With that, she closed her eyes once more and pulled the blanket someone had placed on her slightly upward, covering her and Ward more completely.

She didn't notice when a few moments later, Ward's eyes opened and he smiled softly down at her once again sleeping form.


	9. Aftermath: Part 2

A/N: Part two of Aftermath. By the way, I know that the cover I have for this drabble series isn't very interesting and I was wondering if anyone would like to design one for me. If not, it's fine. But if someone does wanna design a cover for the story, I'd happily dedicate a few drabbles to them and maybe write an actual one-shot for them. Let me know in the reviews or by sending me a message! Enjoy part 2!

She shifted her eyes from person to person, biting her lip in anxiety. She breathed in, parting her lips, and blowing out a puff of air. "Th—they said something. Something about weapons. They, they wanted weapons." Her voice shook as she spoke and she wrapped her arms around her middle. This wasn't something that would just roll off her back. "There was—there was this man. A—and this woman." Her eyes began to burn with tears. Somehow, she found the strength to continue. "They tortured me."

She glanced around the room once more only to find that all the eyes she met were filled with not just sadness, but knowing. She rubbed one hand up her arm nervously before speaking again. "I felt so helpless. I felt—I just, I felt like any minutes my body was going to give out. I went two days without food. And they _hurt_ me."

They all listened in silence as she told them everything that happened when she was held captive. All the things they physically did to hurt her and the emotional pain they put her through. When she was finished, she was shaking and crying again. Simmons immediately walked up to her and wrapped her in her arms, shushing her gently.

"You're safe now, Skye. We won't let them hurt you again. You're safe here, on the Bus. We're here, Skye. We're here." Simmons kept talking, reminding Skye of how far they'd go to protect her.

After several moments, Skye, with a shaky and hiccupping voice spoke once more. "Thank you."

Fitz walked closer and placed a protective hand on Skye's shoulder. "We're your friends, Skye. We'll always look out for you."

The others nodded in agreement.

…

For the next several weeks, Skye sat out on missions and stayed with Fitzsimmons. She worked more with her hacking skills than her offensive skills during missions to avoid being to near the action. She had less workout sessions with Ward and less flying lessons with May.

She did, however, spend more time with Coulson, in his office. Skye found it easiest to talk with Coulson about what had happened as he'd been much of a confidant to her for as long as she'd known him.

Along with her regular meetings with Coulson, Skye spent plenty of girl time with Simmons, watching corny chick flicks and making fun of the cliché plots. She didn't laugh as much as she used to, and her eyes weren't as light as they once were, but she was a little less broken by the day.

The first field mission she went on was two months later, after spending three weeks before hand going through rigorous training to make sure nothing like her last mission happened again.

And it didn't. Her mission was a complete success.

And slowly, Skye was nearly as she once was. Some nights though, she had nightmares. But there was always someone willing to help her through them and even the nightmares became a distant memory.

Looking in the mirror one day, Skye realized how mature she looked. She looked strong to herself, and brave. She looked like a true S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. And inwardly, she thanked her team for helping her to become this, but even more so for helping her still be alive.


	10. Be Safe

A/N: The next 5 drabbles take place between the time when Skye was captured and tortured to her looking in the mirror from the end of the last drabble. Feel free to send more requests.

"Just calm down, Skye. There's nobody trying to hurt you." Coulson's face was scrunched up with concern as he held Skye, rocking her back and forth. "It's ok. Relax."

Skye's fist was balled into his shirt, her eyes tightly shut. A shrill sound came from her pressed lips. "No! No!"

Coulson shook her slightly in an attempt to wake her up from her nightmare. "You're not in that cellar anymore. You're alive, and safe. Skye, you are so _safe_!" His voice broke on the last word he found himself recalling a separate time where Skye was even closer to death.

Skye seemed to realize she was in no apparent threat and relaxed in Coulson's arms, burrowing her head into his side. Her hands loosened on the wrinkled cotton of his button down.

As Coulson sat there, Skye's erratic breathing evened out as her nightmares faded to something more pleasant. He watched over her, a sad frown etched across his usually good natured features. He should have known it would only be a matter of time before someone hurt Skye again. He wasn't so lucky as to be able to give her the safety she deserved.

Skye had been on the brink of death before. And now she wasn't so much on the brink of death as on the brink of losing herself in her fear.

Even when she talked, her eyes were more dull, her actions less bold, her stride less confident.

Coulson could remember comforting Skye after nightmares before, especially after being shot in the stomach. He'd almost lost her then. He and the rest of the team had been so afraid of losing her again when she was captured. They had scrambled for every possible way to save her. And when they found her in that dark cellar, crying noiselessly, they knew they had failed.

Now the objective was to help her in any way they could. They'd let her be compromised too many times and their luck would eventually run out.

As Coulson pulled the blanket over her body, he swore to himself that she'd be safe.


	11. Movie Night

"Did you see how corny that was?! The girl wrote the guy a damn poem to win him back!" Skye laughed at the screen, pointing to the protagonist who was tearfully reciting a poem about love and loss.

Simmons giggled, covering her mouth with her hand to stile the noise. A moment later, Skye was still laughing and Simmons had quieted down. "Skye! Be quiet! We'll wake up every one!"

Skye threw her head back in a final outburst of laughter before taking a few gulps of air to help her regain her control. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have woken you up either. It _is _four a.m. already. I know you prefer to get a full night of sleep." Skye ducked her head, grimacing slightly in guilt.

As she looked down in guilt, Simmons placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's no trouble, Skye. I know you wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after… Well, we're friends. I'll be fine with a little less sleep than usual. Now, what should we watch next?"

From her position, Skye looked up at Simmons with a grateful smile. Skye's expression shifted to one of contemplation as she thought about movies. Suddenly, she smiled brightly. "We're gonna watch Mulan. I haven't watched it in a while and it's awesome."

Jemma smiled and nodded slightly in agreement before handing the laptop over to Skye, who promptly went through her movie library and pressed on Mulan.

As the opening started to play, Skye spoke up. "You know what I love about Mulan? She's badass and even though she's not accepted for her differences in the beginning, she earns the respect of the _entire _country."

Flicking her eyes to Skye, Jemma smiled before responding. "Reminds me a little bit of you. You were in the Rising Tide but now you're here, saving the world, one mission at a time."

"Well… I don't think I'm quite as respected as Mulan yet. I've got a long way to go before I'm a top agent or anything."

Simmons rolled her eyes before bumping her shoulder with Skye's affectionately. "Nonsense. You're a great agent now. And you know all of us on the Bus would never let anyone show you any less respect than you deserve. You're absolutely wonderful, Skye."

"Thanks, Simmons." As the first line played on the laptop screen, Skye wrapped one arm around Simmons in a side hug before releasing her and continuing to watch the movie.


	12. Game On

"Do I really have to say it? You already know. Can't you let me keep this remaining piece of dignity?" Ward frowned at Skye from across the table, his expression as closely resembling a pout as Agent Grant Ward is capable of.

Skye crooked an eyebrow, shaking her head slightly with a smug grin gracing her features. "Nuh uh. I wanna hear it. _Again." _

Ward tossed an unamused glare in Skye's direction before sighing and saying with submission, "You sunk my battleship."

"In your face! Who's the rookie now?!" Skye leapt from her seat, pointing at Ward in victory.

Ward rolled his eyes at Skye's boisterous behavior before standing and placing a hand on Skye's wrist to lower it to her side. "You're still the rookie here, Skye. You're just better at battleship than I am."

"And loving every minute of it!" Skye lips remained turned upwards in slight smile but it lost its smugness and became more reserved. "My board game skills only prove how awesome I am at tactics. Just like they prove how your strong suit is 'shoot first, plan later'." She away, a memory popping up before returning her attention to Ward. "You'd probably do better in an arcade game."

The corner of Grant's lips turned up, resembling a smile. "You'll do fine with the 'shoot first, plan later' tactic when you've been on more missions. And just so you know, I could beat you at any other board game. I have plenty of tactical knowledge. I _am _the one that went to The Academy for my line of work."

Skye snorted, placing her hand against the table to support her arm as she leaned forward. "We'll see, Mr. Macho. I bet you a week off from training that I can beat you in any board game we have here. Then we'll see who the tactical one is."

He nodded, giving her an even expression. "Alright. And when you lose, you get kitchen duty for the next week."

Skye's smile stretched to show her teeth as she announced, "Game. On."


	13. Fixing Up

A/N: Second to last installment in the post torture drabbles. I'm also officially calling this drabble series slightly AU since a few of the things I've written have become canon balled.

"What are you up to?" Skye tilted her head, giving an inquisitive stare to Fitz's hands as they tinkered around machinery.

Fitz glanced up at her before returning to his work. "I'm fixing up one of the dwarves. Grumpy is being… well, grumpy. He's in need of a tuning up."

Skye gave a thoughtful hum to his explanation before leaning slightly closer. "And what does Grumpy's grumpiness entail?"

He shifted from foot to foot, trying to find the optimal angle for poking at the wires. His eyes never strayed from the technology as he answered Skye's question. "He's been unresponsive whenever I take him out for test runs. The others have been very accommodating but Grumpy has been unreliable in his performance at best. He needs a little fixing up."

"Ah. I guess he needs a little TLC. Maybe then he won't be so grumpy."

Fitz nodded slightly. "Yeah, I suppose. Hopefully once he's give a little 'TLC', he'll be able to get his job done."

Skye glanced down to the floor before staring back towards Fitz and the dwarf. "Yep, that should do some good." She swung her head around, eyes searching. "Where's Simmons? Shouldn't she be helping?"

"She's talking with Coulson about some new lab equipment. Maybe she'll put in a good word about my monkey."

"Ah. Well, I'm just gonna go. Ward's probably expecting me for a round of pushups…"

"And you're going to do them? What have you done with Skye?" Fitz finally looked up from his work, staring Skye in the eyes.

She let out a snort before responding. "Nah. I'm gonna go hide." She let her eyes drop to the floor before taking a step back from Fitz.

"Wait, Skye. Are you alright?"

She nodded quickly, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I just uh, it's one of the harder days, I guess."

Fitz gave a slow nod and a comforting smile. "I'm here if you want to talk. I know you're still…"

A sincere smile stretched across Skye's lips as she met Fitz's gaze. "I know. Thanks."

With the turn of her heel, Skye exited the lab.


	14. Pretend

A/N: Last drabble in the post torture arc of my drabble series!

"Hey… Can I come in?" Skye stood in the doorway between the hall and the cockpit of the BUS, her hand grasping at the doorframe.

May nodded subtly without glancing backwards, signaling for Skye to enter.

Skye sat in the other seat, turning to face the sunrise. It was too early for any of the others to be up, but May was up early, like usual.

From her peripheral vision, May saw Skye staring out the window with a slightly haunted look on her usually soft features. "You're up early." It wasn't a question, but a statement, and Skye turned at the sound of May's voice.

"Couldn't sleep."

The expression on May's features softened slightly. With a flick of her finger, she pressed the autopilot and turned to face Skye, who still looked hunted. "You didn't go to Coulson?" Her voice was even but there was an edge of suspicion laced in. Skye almost always went to Coulson to talk after a rough night.

Skye's lips quirked in a barely visible smile before replying. "No. I, um, I didn't want to watch him look at me like I'm broken. I mean, I kinda am, but I like that you don't look at me any different." She stared at her lap, brushing a stray hair away from her face.

"I understand that. Comfort isn't always what's best."

She nodded, letting her eyes meet May's quickly before glancing towards the door. "It's nice to pretend for a little while."

With a hum, May turned back to the controls, flicking the button once more to disengage autopilot. "Yeah, it is."


	15. About Names

A/N: Obviously, this drabble series is set in a canon divergence where none of the HYRDA stuff has happened. And that's the way it's gonna stay because I wanna be able to write happy, not angsty moments. _Especially _after the last episode. I'll keep the super angst contained to my Ward centric story _The Road to Redemption is Long and Winding. _I'd appreciate it if you guys read and review that as well as my Ward centric 4 chaptered drabble series, _Faulty Programming. _The second one hasn't gotten any reviews for the last 2 chapters and I'd really appreciate some feedback.

This drabble was requested by af1011. Keep the requests coming! I think I'll do a few moments about Skye's days at St. Agnes so this request isn't quite complete.

…

"Your name was Mary Sue Poots? You dodged a bullet when you renamed yourself Skye." Ward smiled teasingly at Skye from the couch as she sat at the bar, rolling her eyes.

"Ha ha. Real funny. Didn't know joking was in your programming," Skye batted her eyelashes in retaliation as she turned herself around to face him. "Yes. The name they gave me was Mary Sue Poots."

FitzSimmons both looked at Skye with a sort of discomfort at the name. "You just don't look like a Mary Sue. Let alone, a Poots!" Jemma's voice was laced with an edge of laughter as she tried not to laugh as she spoke out loud.

Skye turned her gaze towards Simmons, letting out a hum of false seriousness. "Yes, I think I have to agree. I would have been much better as a Toots instead. Or maybe a High. Then I could be called Skye High!" Her lips curved up into an open mouthed smile as she began to laugh.

"What's this about names?" May walked through the opening, into the living room area, settling herself on a bar stool, next to Skye.

"Oh, I was just telling these three how St. Agnes gave me the name Mary Sue Poots. Not real fond of my 'legal' name."

May nodded slightly, pouring herself a drink. "Yeah. Skye suits you better."

It was then that Fitz piped up, titling his head as he asked, "How come you never gave yourself a last name, Skye?"

She shrugged her shoulders, taking a sip of the drink in her hand. "Oh, plenty of reasons, really. No last name means it's easy for a girl like me to disappear. Plus, I just never really needed one for the life I lead. It's hard to trace a girl who can besides delete herself from everywhere, also never give out a last name. It pays to be no one sometimes."

May turned slightly to her, her eyebrow arched. "And now? You're an agent. Don't you think a last name would be a good thing?"

Skye eyes flicked to Ward, who smiled knowingly at her from his seat on the couch. "I have one in mind. I wanna wait, though, before I start calling myself by it. I wanna earn the name."

Ward tilted his chin upward, his eyes meeting Skye's. "I'm sure you will, Skye."


	16. Easy as Control Alt Delete

A/N: Haha, sorry to disappoint you guys but the look shared between Skye and Ward in the last chapter wasn't about _his _last name. If you'll recall, I already set up a last name that Skye wants to adopt later in her career. First drabble in the series ring any bells? I love getting reviews though. I'd also love some reviews on my Ward centric drabble series _Faulty Programming. _

This was requested by dreamer_belle on AO3.

…

"What did the agents at The Hub want me here for, again? All I heard was that I was to come here _immediately. _That kind of wording sets me a little on edge, you know?" Skye tilted her head, her eyes flicking from door to door in the long hallways her and Coulson walked down.

Coulson smiled reassuringly at her before stopping in front of the glass doors to swipe his pass card. They stepped forward to find themselves in a large room filled with agents scurrying about and a monitor at the front of the room. The room was lined with a seemingly bulletproof metal and the flickering of little lights on the smaller computer screens left Skye with an itch to type away.

"I called you here because we need something hacked, Agent Skye." Agent Victoria Hand appeared in front of them, her lips pursed in seriousness and her expression a cool demeanor of all business.

Skye's eyes widened as she took in Hand's words. "Wait, what?"

Hand crossed her arms in instant exasperation as she continued to stare at Skye. "We recovered a laptop from one of Barton's last missions that may have valuable Intel on a terrorist organization we're trying to take down. I want you to hack it, and recover that information."

Skye paused, letting her mouth hang open a moment before she nodded. "I can do that. Just show me where the laptop is."

With a nod, Hand turned and walked towards the left side of the room, where several agents were huddled, looking over each other's shoulders and sputtering out directions to the person who sat in front of an outdated laptop. At the click of Hand's heels, the agents swiveled around to look at Hand. With a hand movement, all but the one in the chair moved from the area, going back to other tasks.

"Agent Rolland, this is Agent Skye. She's here to retrieve the information. You can go."

Agent Rolland gulped quickly before glancing towards Skye with wide eyes. "You're the one who—" Hand swung her head to glare at him, causing him to immediately rise from his chair and hurry away, fearful of Hand's wrath.

Skye turned to watch Rolland's movements, an expression of empathy coloring her features. "That was a little harsh…" she murmured under her breath as she sat in the vacant chair and began to type away at the laptop. "Give me half an hour. Whoever encrypted this is an amateur."

With a low hum, Hand turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Skye and Coulson at the laptop.

With a glance to her left, Skye continued to type away. Without removing her eyes from the screen, she spoke. "So, did Hand ask you wait while I work to babysit me? I still don't think she likes me very much. Or trusts me…"

Coulson shook his head, a closed mouth smile stretching across his lips. "Nah. I asked to hang around. Figured, maybe I'd actually learn a little something from watching you work. Plus I wanna keep the fans away. It's harder to focus when you've got people breathing down your neck for an autograph. And you've accumulated quite the little fan club, what with all you've done." His smile transformed from simply kind to prideful as he continued to watch Skye at work.

Skye let her eyes flick down quickly as she smiled, pleased. "Thanks, AC."

…

Precisely 24 minutes and 41 seconds later, Skye let out a whoop as she spun around in the chair, eyes closed and her hands in the air. "Easiest hack I've done in _months." _

Skye didn't notice as Hand walked towards her right and leaned down to look at the screen. "Well done. This is all we need."

Coulson nodded to Hand before gesturing Skye to follow him out. She stood from her seat before walking behind Coulson. It was only when he was out the glass door did Hand speak again. "And Agent Skye? Thank you." Something resembling a smile crossed Hand's features before it faded into her business like expression once more.

Skye grinned unashamedly, nodding in recognition before turning and taking a few jogging steps to catch up with Coulson.


	17. News

A/N: I couldn't resist bringing him in to the story. I love his character and couldn't stand the thought of just leaving him out of my drabbles for any longer.

…

"I don't think we've been formally introduced. Name's Triplett." He held out a hand, smiling suavely at Skye as she cocked her head to the side. Her brow furrowed in thought as she reached for where she knew that name.

She reached for his hand, still thinking. The line between her brows smoothed out as it came to her. "Triplett… You were there when I was recovering from being shot, right? I guess, in all the chaos that apparently went on, I never got to meet you, even though you saw me unconscious."

He nodded, his smile softening into something more friendly than charming. "That is true. But now, I guess we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other. I've been transferred to your team for the time being."

Skye smiled slightly, folding her arms over her chest and leaning against the wall behind her and crossing her ankles. "Why's that? Decide the specialist life wasn't for you anymore?"

"Not quite." He let out a short puff of a laugh before leaning back himself against the wall parallel to Skye's wall. "Turned out my SO was nothing but a traitor. He was after that stuff that fixed you up so he could save his own life, along with create an army of super soldiers. Might've succeeded too, if he didn't die before he could administer the concoction he had made to himself."

Skye's lips turned down in a sympathetic frown. She pushed herself off the wall and took a step closer. "That's… horrible. You, you and Ward must feel so betrayed."

His lips formed a grim line as his eyes flashed with sadness. "Ward doesn't know yet. He'll probably take it harder, though. Garrett was his SO for over a decade." His eyes flickered to the side before meeting Skye's once more. "It's part of the reason I'm here."

"What do you mean?"

Triplett sighed heavily before turning his head towards the sound of approaching footsteps. Without shifting his eyes, he spoke again, his voice softer. "I told you because I thought the news would come easier from someone he knows, someone he cares about. Garrett was an SO to both of us but Ward doesn't know me."

Skye's eyes narrowed slightly. "And what makes you think he'll take it better from me?"

A grin spread across Triplett's cheeks as he turned back to Skye's disbelieving expression. "You should have seen the way he was when you were shot. If there's one person the news _could _come from, it's you."

Skye's expression softened as she searched Triplett's face for any hint of a joke, or a lie before nodding. "Ok."


	18. What Am I?

A/N: Here's a response to the request by ilikehats2 for Skye discovering her powers. I haven't put a lot of thought into possible powers so I don't know how good this is but I kinda wanna step away from computer type powers because of what Skye's 'parent' looked like in the finale. If you're confused about her powers, feel free to go to my profile where I posted my explanation of her powers.

Lights flashed all around, permeating the once stark white room with their red and orange to compliment the black ooze splattered across the walls.

Skye's eyes were shut as she was hunched over, clutching at her head, trying to dull the voices of whatever _they _were. They'd said that they were her parent, but it wasn't something easily accepted.

Tears ran down her cheeks and left her cheeks flushed with a ruddy red color and her eyes puffy. Stray hairs stuck to her cheeks and her clothes were much like the walls, splattered with black.

The loud sound of the alarms and yelling reached her ears and she screamed brokenly, trying to block it all out, when suddenly, she did. The noise seemed to cease in that moment. The sounds failed to reach her ears as she slowly stood in shock, seeing the lights still flashing, but no sounds reaching her ears.

She blinked at the room, turning around until she'd circled back to face the door, wide open. Her lips fell open in an awed fear of what was happening. No voices reached her ears and it almost felt like she was alone again, until she saw movement coming from outside the door.

They walked in with a lumbering step, leaving an echo in their wake, louder because the lack of any other sounds.

Skye's fist closed around air at her side as she stared at them, her eyes already filling once more with tears. "What am I?"

They tilted their head to the side, letting droplets of black drip from their long unruly hair. "You are mine. And being mine comes with its gifts and its curses."

Just as suddenly as they came, they vanished, dissolving from the room completely, as if they hadn't been there at all. On unsteady feet, Skye stepped forward, into the hallway. She continued to walk until she found Coulson, yelling out to the others, and pointing in the direction of the room she was in moments before. But, she couldn't hear them.

She stepped in front of them, trying to catch their attention but they seemed to step right through her, no response rippling through them as they kept forward, and their footsteps without any clap of foot on tile.

She stood, watching them, frozen in place by the shock of them stepping through her. Her eyes were glued to their backs as she stood there, waiting for one of them to turn and tell them to come on or for Ward to chastise her for lagging behind but they kept forward silently.

When they disappeared from her view, she staggered forward a step before halting again. A moment later, she felt her arms jerked at her sides and the pressure of her cheeks being cupped by wrinkled hands. With another jerk to her arms, she was suddenly assaulted by the loud blaring of alarms and her eyes shut painfully and opened again to bright lights flashing against her vision.

Warm hands rubbed circles over her own and she squinted before looking up into the eyes of Coulson as she staggered backwards, nearly falling until she felt Coulson's hands move to her forearms. She cast an eye around her environment to see that she was back in the white room.

"You're alright Skye, we've got you." She met his sincere gaze and nodded shakily. He turned towards the door, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and tucking her into his side as he led her out of the room with the rest of the team following.

Behind her, nobody noticed that the place where she stood had two footprints in black ooze.


	19. Who Am I?

A/N: This is sort of a continuation of the last drabble. This one doesn't get into what her powers are so much as her reaction after the last chapter. It's very dialogue heavy. The next review is the 100th! Thanks, so much guys for reading my drabble series. I might dedicate the next drabble to the 100th reviewer…

"What happened back there? You were unresponsive. It was like you were a million miles away." Triplett's brow was raised to her, his right clasped around her shoulder concernedly.

Skye shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "I just—I need to talk to Coulson about it first.

Lightly, she pulled out from under his comforting hand and climbed the steps up to Coulson's office. With a hesitancy she'd thought she was over, she knocked lightly on the door. A muffled _'Come in' _came from the other side and Skye found her flight response igniting her bones and leaving an uncomfortable itch running under her skin telling her to _run. _

Taking a deep breath, she fought every cell of her being and turned the door knob, entering Coulson's office. "A.C.?"

His kind eyes focused in on her and he immediately started scanning her face, taking in every bit of emotion flittering across her face. His eyebrows knit together and his lips pursed in understanding. "Something happened back there." He said it with finality, knowing it was a fact, even if he hadn't been there to see her in a state of comatose while _standing. _

She nodded, frowning deeper for each step she took towards his office desk. "I _saw—_I _saw them. _I saw my _parent. _I knew it was a long shot to try and find them there but I _did." _As joyful as her words should have been, she sounded as if someone had died, as if she'd experienced a tragedy. All her hope for finding her family had been turned into doubt and fear for who she is, _what _she is.

Coulson's lips turned down further, his eyes staring into Skye's imploringly. "They're not what you expected."

Skye shook her head, as her eyes welled with tears. "They're—_I'm—_I don't know anymore. All I know is that they weren't—_aren't _human. _I'm _not human."

"That doesn't matter. You're _good_. Plenty of humans aren't half the person you are."

"I don't know what I am anymore. I thought SHIELD could help me find that and it did but now that I know, it's like I'm waiting to be told that I was never the hero of my story, but the _villain._ What am I supposed to do, now? I have these abilities that I don't understand and I don't know what I'm capable of doing. I just—I just want to know what I'll be."

Coulson's face tightened into a stern frown as he rose from his seat and stepped away from his desk and went around to place his hands gently on Skye's face to wipe the tears and to lift her up to meet his eyes. "You _are _Skye. You will always _be _Skye. It doesn't matter what you're capable of doing. What matters is what you _choose _to do with that capability." His eyes burned with an intense honesty and pride for the woman in front of him who was his friend and recruit and as close as he'd ever had to a daughter.

"Our team, here on the BUS, we're here for you. I think you've forgotten that I'm the man who's met a Norse God and you're the girl who tried to turn someone into a super hero. When we found out that you're an 0-8-4, you're the one that told me it was the beginning, and not the end. Now I'm telling you, this is not your end, this is just another chapter, and you are definitely the hero of your story."

Skye's lips tipped up into a shaky smile as more tears fell down her cheeks and with a sniffle, she wrapped her arms around Coulson's shoulders, hugging him.

Coulson closed his eyes briefly and tightened his arms around her protectively. He let her cling to him with gratitude and fear, knowing that together they could find the answers she needed, and knowing with utmost certainty that she could still come out with herself intact.


	20. To Remind Me

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my 100th reviewer, lazytv8! Thanks readers for continuing to leave me lovely reviews!

"Skye, can I ask you something?" May's expression was as even as always, but under the surface, curious, and caring. Skye turned to face her with a small frown, letting her brows furrow in confusion.

"Sure…"

May nodded in satisfaction before opening her mouth. She closed it again, before finally speaking, a hesitation lining her voice. "If… if you could change one thing in your life, anything, what would you change?"

Skye rubbed her arm and turned to stare out the window at the endless night sky with thought. A moment later, she shook her head, returning her gaze to May. "I don't know."

May's expression became furrowed as she returned Skye's stare. "I would have thought… maybe you would change who your parents are, or maybe you wouldn't have someone. Or maybe, you would have been adopted."

A slow smile formed on Skye's lips, looking sad, and tired. In that moment, May could see the orphan she once was peeking out. "I wouldn't give up meeting this team. And I wouldn't change anything else. I may not have known all of you, otherwise. Even the bad things helped get me to where I am, with my family."

May was left speechless by her absolute surety and the love she could hear in Skye's voice. She turned back to the controls, even though the plane was on auto pilot. "It's amazing that you're still so _alive _after all you've been through. After everything, finding out things about yourself and going through absolute hell, you're still intact."

For several moments, they sat there, silently. From the quiet came Skye's voice once more. "I've felt the dark before. I just… I prefer to live in the light. It's not easy, always being _me _but I don't want to lose that. I don't want to forget who I am at the heart of things."

The corners of May's lips turned up slightly as she remained silent, truly _feeling _Skye's words.

A warm hand landed on May's shoulder, prompting her to turn to face Skye. "It always helps to have people around to remind me of who I am."

Melinda stared at Skye, seeing a girl who had faced so much, and still come out as herself, and she saw herself. She saw someone she could have been, and she saw someone who she thought, maybe, she could be like again.

As Skye stared at May, she saw someone strong, powerful, but still so alive in her center. Melinda was not without her scars, her pain, and her past, but Skye could feel the light emanating from May in the same way she tried to radiate her inner light. May was not lost, and neither was Skye. Not then. Maybe in another life, they were lost, but in the one they lived, they were _found. _Found by a group of people who would continue to support them, continue to remind them of who they are.


	21. To Being Good

A/N: A heads up to all my followers for this story: We are now entering the last ten chapters. I'm calling it done at 30 chapters. As a result of that decision, I actually have all ten chapters planned. They will probably be longer than usual as well. Also, sorry for this taking so long. I had major writers block on this chapter, even having it planned. Hope you still enjoy!

"It's… weird to think that Garrett was a traitor. I mean, he helped get the drug that saved my life. But I guess, it makes sense. He wanted to live. He wanted power." Skye leaned down, picking up the reports strewn about the old desk. She stood up and scanned the words, her breath catching on the word Deathlok. "You guys… I think you'll wanna see this."

Immediately, Skye was surrounded by her team as they all glimpsed the word that had caught her attention. When Coulson spoke, it was with a quiet horror as he put the pieces together. "Mike Peterson was under Garrett's thumb the entire time. _Garrett _was the clairvoyant."

Skye released a staggered breath as she realized just who had ordered Quinn to shoot her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned her thoughts to Mike, who they had not encountered since she was shot. "Do you think Mike is," She swallowed a choking breath before continuing. "…still alive?"

His eyes glazed over as he answered, his voice practically a whisper. "It's possible. Probable, even." Coulson shook his head as he continued to read the paper Skye held from over her shoulder.

Skye turned to meet the eyes of the rest of the team, her lips parted and her eyes sad. As she met May's eyes, they seemed to reach a silent agreement, and she abruptly turned to search the room, Melinda came up to a battered wall, placing her hand along it's smoothest area, feeling for any integrity difference in the material. Her hand paused over a spot in the far right corner before she stepped back and promptly punch her fist through the wall.

The spot she hit punctured like paper, leaving a keypad imbedded in the wall. The others watched silently, waiting with baited breath.

The slapping sound of papers falling heavily on the table broke the silence as Coulson took the short steps to the keypad. "It's ancient technology for SHIELD… It has to be World War II era security."

Fitz stepped forward, opening up the key pad to the wires inside and plucking at several while ripping some out altogether. Finally, he ripped out a grey, thin wire and the wall opened, revealing a series of screens, most cracked and broken, but one, operational, and giving a view of a park with kids playing.

Simmons leans towards the screen, squinting her eyes. "Is that…?"

Coulson nods, staring just as intently at the screen in wonder. "It is."

Swinging in the park shown on the screen was Ace, Mike's son. No sound came from the screen but they could see by the way Ace's mouth moved that he was laughing, oblivious to being watched.

"We have to go. Skye, try and hack the feed. We need to know where this camera is at all times." With a curt nod, Skye leaned over the buttons splayed under the screens, the panels put together like a mosh of modern technology and things so old they're covered in reddish rust and some of the buttons look close to falling off. Still, when Skye plugged a hard drive into a USB port, her hack began and transferred the feed from the mix matched computer to Skye's hard drive.

With a purposeful quietness, the team made their way back to the BUS, where May immediately prepared for takeoff.

…

From clues in the video feed, they found the park that Ace was at. By the time they arrived, the sky was darkened, an inky pool hanging over their heads.

They spend the night on the BUS, researching the town for anything peculiar, anything that could lead them to Mike Peterson.

…

"Have you guys noticed this? This city has a severely high crime rate. _But, _in the last three months, it's gone down. Not only has there been a decrease in successful crimes, but in attempts. It's like something is scaring the criminals into hiding." Skye met the eyes of all of them as she explained the weirdness surrounding the town.

Coulson hummed in thought, furrowing his brow and nodding slightly. "It's Mike. It has to be."

They all gave him hopeful, yet sad smiles, nodding before heading to the ramp, ready to find him.

…

While Coulson and May walked the city, Skye watched the park, speaking into her coms unit to FitzSimmons while Ward waited for any sign of trouble.

It wasn't trouble that came when Ace showed up with a distant relative, ready to play and enjoy the playground. It was a man in a large trench coat. It covered most of his frame, but failed to hide the ridged shape of his torso, where machinery laid under his baggy shirt.

He was hidden in the shade of a large tree, watching with rapt, heartbroken attention to the boy who played without his father by his side.

Skye took one look at him and knew.

"He's here. Tell Ward and Triplett to help me take him in."

…

Sneaking up on Mike Peterson would have been a lot harder if not for the way he only paid attention to his son, which in that moment, Skye was extremely thankful for, as she handed the syringe of heavy duty super soldier knock out serum to Ward, and let him empty the contents into Mike's neck.

As they dragged him back to the plane, Skye thought of the life she now lead, and how impactful certain choices were to her life, along with the lives of many others. A sadness filled her eyes as she pulled Mike's body up the cargo ramp on onto the BUS. It was impossible for Skye to not feel somewhat responsible for the way things had turned out, and the way they didn't.

…

A groaning sound alerted the team to Mike and his arrival to consciousness. His eyes blinked up at them, flickers of red in them from the monitoring camera implanted in him. At his rousing, Skye gripped his hand harder, a grimace on her lips.

It was Jemma's voice that rang out amongst the growing discomfort of the situation. "We're going to help you, Mr. Peterson. We're taking you to the finest SHIELD hospital and they will free you from the… attachments. They won't be able to do much about the internal mechanics, but they will be able to disconnect the camera and the kill switch, along with the weapons."

Mike was quiet, his eyes turned to his side. He didn't speak until Skye tentatively spoke. "Mike?"

His eyes flicked up to meet her eyes before moving down once more. He took a staggered breath before speaking. "I'm not so sure I deserve anything SHIELD can do for me. I did a lot of bad things to good people." At those words, he met Skye's eyes once more, obviously referring to leaving Skye alone with Quinn.

She gulped, but refused to let go of his hand. "That wasn't on you. That was on Quinn… and Garrett. We know about him, and everything he had you do. And we know that your son was constantly being watched by others. You were protecting your son. But Garrett's gone. He can't use you anymore."

Coulson stepped forward from his corner of the room, his lips pursed, and his hands behind his back. "You've been trying to make amends for everything, haven't you? This city used to be a cesspool of crime, but over the last three months, there's been a drop."

For the first time in a long time, Mike's lip turned up, just for a second. "I've contributed enough bad to the world. I think I owe it some good."

"And you will do some good. You'll go through a SHIELD review board and they'll decide what to have you do, and then, you'll go and be with your son." Coulson nodded to behind Mike, where a monitor was set up, showing Ace, still at the park. "We have some agents keeping an eye on him for you until you can be back with him yourself."

Mike nodded gratefully to them, his eyes locked on the screen.

Fitz cleared his throat, catching Mike's attention. "The agents will only be recording their monitoring for a few more hours, before they shut it off. They've already spoken with Ace's current caretaker about being around Ace."

He nodded again, satisfied in knowing that his son was protected. "I'll do what it takes to be worthy of redemption. I just want my son to be safe."

Skye smiled at him gently, nodding slightly. "He will be. He'll have you. There is nowhere safer than with your family."

The rest of the team focused in on Skye for a moment, thinking on her words.

…

Over the course of the next several hours, Mike was dropped off at the SHIELD medical facility. He left the BUS with a renewed sense of hope, hope that he could get back to the man he wanted to be, rather than the man that others made of him.

…

Skye sat alone, in the lounge, contemplating Mike's life, and her own. She thought of all the similar choices they made, and the circumstances that made them who they are.

"You look like you could use a drink."

Skye's head snapped up at the voice of Melinda, her brows furrowed in confusion at her sudden disruption of the silence. As May lifted a glass, Skye grinned, nodding. "Yeah, I guess a drink sounds good about now."

She got up from the couch and moved to the bar, sitting beside May and lifting a glass to toast. "To being good, even when the world tries to make you something else."

May smiled the barest of smiles, her eyes sympathetic. "Cheers."

For the next few hours, they sat together in silence, each drinking slowly and unhurried.

As Skye stood after several hours, May flicked a wrist in a small wave as she was left alone at the bar. Once more, she lifted a glass, outwards toward the direction of Skye's bunk. "Here's to heroes, in all their forms."


	22. Focus

A/N: Shorter drabble again… Sorry! I couldn't figure out how to stretch this drabble longer than it is. I'm going to try and get a drabble up every day until the series is finished though, which should end up being the day of the season 2 premiere if I post 2 drabbles on one day. Tomorrow's drabble will most likely be longer because of what I have planned for it. Hope you still enjoy this.

"Focus, Skye. You can do this." Coulson's voice echoed across the empty, white room. With a deep breath, Skye nodded and shut her eyes, focusing on the smallest sounds of the room and the light that she could feel under her eyelids. She breathed in slowly, each breath measured and as quiet as possible.

Slowly, a buzzing feeling came to her palms, making them itch and warm against her sides where they rested. "Take a step, Skye. Let's see if you can do it."

Skye stood still another moment, letting the buzz in her hands travel through her body before experimentally shifting her foot forward, opening her eyes to find her foot opaque and just in front of the solid foot of her corporeal body. With a smile, she stepped forward again, walking away from her still standing body. Passing a hand in front of her face, she felt numbness throughout her body and could see Coulson still watching her form, unaware of her success.

"I did it!" She jerked backwards, falling back into herself as she was flooded by sensation once more. An ache sprung through her head, pounding out a rhythm of 1, 2, 3, 4, and shocking her for a moment. Skye tottered on her heels for a moment before tipping forward, only to find two hand around her forearms, supporting her.

Coulson forced a cheerful smile as she got her balance back. "You'll get it, Skye. Your powers only surfaced a few months ago."

"I've been practicing for the last four hours and I haven't gotten any further than two steps in front of my body. And my boots are getting seriously messed up by the black stuff oozing out the bottom of them." Skye sighed, her patience running thin.

With a shake of the head, Coulson cupped Skye's shoulder and leaned forward slightly. "I know it's not easy. If it were, we'd know a lot more about people born with powers. As it is, most of the people with powers that know how to use them are either from Asgard or gained their powers through some freak accident. Maybe someday, you'll get the chance to meet Bruce Banner. There's a guy who knows patience and focus."

At his words, Skye's lips tugged up in a lopsided grin. "I think his problem is more keeping his powers from working, but yeah, maybe he could give me a few pointers." Her smile dissolved quickly and she ran a hand through her hair. "The only time I've been further than two steps was on that mission, back in the _other _white room. I was freaking out, and the alarms were blaring. It's like… One second, everything is as loud as possible and I'm trying to block it out, and the next, there's nothing but silence."

"Maybe we've been going about your training, then. Maybe, your powers require loud noise and stress to surface. We'll try again with your powers tomorrow, after the mission."

With a small smile and a nod, Skye started towards the door, leaving faint black prints across the floor. Before she reached the door, a hand gently close around her arm. "Skye, you'll get this. I haven't met many people as dedicated as you are to fighting for what you want, and the ones I have, they're all heroes. Now to me, that really only means one thing about you."

"I don't know about being a hero, but I know that from the start of all this, you've had belief in me. That's something worth trusting in."


	23. Then and Now

"_She's just not a good fit here."_

_Small, nine year old Mary Sue Poots clutched at her braid, chewing on her lip and forcing back tears. She'd wanted this so much. She thought maybe they would keep her. She thought wrong._

_Clapping one hand over her mouth to keep from announcing her presence, she turned from the closed door and ran to the room she'd been staying in for the last two months. In a fit of frustration and heartache, she slammed the door as she entered and let out a few jerking sobs. She ran about the room, grabbing what few things had come with her to this new family and shoving them in the small suitcase she'd had since her first home, given to her as a parting gift._

_She didn't have to wonder if she'd be there another night. She knew she'd be gone before dinner. _

"_I was hoping…" She kept muttering to herself as the tears flowed. She'd hoped so hard, for them to like her, for them to want her, for them to keep her. But hoping only made her hurt more. _

_She shouldn't have called Mrs. Brody mom._

…

Skye made her way through the Bus, stopping in front of the holotable, where the others were already waiting. "Hey, what's the big news? I was in the middle of training and Ward's gonna make me do even more since it was interrupted."

Everyone smiled at her, setting her on high alert. "You're all being creepily giddy. Is it someone's birthday. I swear, there are no birthdays on my calendar. And it's sure as hell not Christmas…"

FitzSimmons gave her toothy grins as she moved her gaze from one team mate to the other. "Ok, guys, seriously, what's going on?" She snapped her head in Coulson's direction, narrowing her eyes. "A.C., what's up?"

Coulson's eyes crinkled fondly at the way she addressed him. "Relax, Skye. We have good news for you," He cleared his throat and stood taller, as if about to make a declaration. "It is my great honor as your mentor and friend to award you, Agent Skye, with level three clearing."

FitzSimmons immediately both wrapped arms around Skye, forming a group hug. "Congrats, Skye! We're so happy for you!"

May placed a hand on Skye's shoulder and smiled kindly. "You've come a long way from a hacker kidnapped from a van in an alley."

Triplett pulled Skye into a one armed hug, a warm smile stretching across his lips. "I haven't known you for that long, Skye, but you're one hell of an agent."

As everyone continued to congratulate Skye on her achievement, she was still, letting hope pour over her as she considered her unorthodox family. They weren't anything like what she'd hoped for when she was still Mary Sue Poots, but they were the best thing to happen to her.

They wanted her, and cared about her, and _chose _her when they didn't have to.

Hope was becoming a daily occurrence, and Skye wasn't sure if she minded so much.

…

_She stood off to the side, watching as children played, and laughed without the heartache that pierced her. On either side of her were other foster kids, all with that weary, and distrusting look in their eyes from being passed from home to home one too many times. Some were lucky, and got adopted. They found families that loved them with their very being. Mary Sue Poots wasn't that lucky._

_A string of burning jealousy shot up her spine as she watched the other children, the ones with parents, homes, even pets. Every day she wanted those things more and more, but it became harder and harder to hope for them._

_From her spot against the wall, a hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and shoved her to the ground, effectively landing her in a muddy puddle. The thin, ten year old girl spat out dirty water and squinted her eyes against the tears building. She pressed her scratched palms against the wet ground and tried to get up, but couldn't, because as she tried, a foot pressed against her upper back, keeping her down._

"_What's wrong, Toots? Don't like the mud? You should be happy! You finally found where you belong, in the dirt!" She sputtered, dirt still lacing her tongue._

_A few tears slipped from her eyes as she kept pressing her palms to the ground, only succeeding in creating angry lines across her hands, some spurting droplets of blood, mixing in the brownish water. "Get your foot off of me."_

_Her perpetrator paid no mind to her words, only pressing harder with his foot, surely leaving a shoe print across her t-shirt. She struggled another minute before frustration took over and she reached behind her back for the boy's leg, grabbing it as harshly as she could and yanking up the pant leg, biting him while clawing at the surrounding skin. Immediately, the boy shook her off, running away from her and yelling how crazy she was._

_Without the boy's weight, she pushed herself onto her knees, staring at the ground for a moment as she took a few gulps of air to calm herself. In a quiet voice, she called out in the direction of the other foster children at the school. "A little help, please?" _

_Silence met her request, prompting her to look up, only to find everyone but her gone from the area of the playground. _

_Sighing, she got up and walked to the door, hoping she could borrow some clothes from the lost and found, since hers were sopping wet. _

_It didn't surprise her that no one helped her. As more and more days passed without a proper home, self-reliance was all she had. No one helped a poor little orphan. _

…

"Shit!" Alarms were blaring as Skye, Ward, and Triplett ran down the metallic hall, barely making it past the quickly shutting security doors. Ward and Triplett pulled sped up some as the security door in front of them began to close even faster. Skye pumped her legs to gain distance but fell a few feet behind the others.

In her haste to catch up with the other two, she tripped on the gleaming floor, turning her weight to her side and landing hard on her hip. She winced, but quickly planted her palms against the floor to hoist herself up and hopefully make it through the lowering doors. Before she could sit up, though, two pairs of hands wrapped around her arms, pulling her to a standing position and hurrying her along.

Skye couldn't recall making it out of the building, or getting back to the Bus in her shock at the instinctive way both her teammates had gone and helped her to her feet when her whole life, no one had been willing to help her up, let alone practically carry her away.

Even after a few years of being a part of Coulson's team, Skye still found it hard to process the way the team had developed and become like family to her in a way not even the other foster kids had been. It was sometimes hard to understand that being a team meant that they looked out for each other. Maybe not everyone part of SHIELD kept a no man left behind policy, but Skye couldn't think of a time when it had ever been a consideration to _not _save their own.

…

_Mary sat with her too long arms crossed across her chest. She glared at the back of the teacher's head as they wrote on the whiteboard, in big, underlined letters, 'DETENTION'. All she did was hack her way into her eight grade science teacher's powerpoint and add a slide filled with science fiction jokes. It was funny._

_Still, she sat in a desk in a room that was becoming much too familiar for her taste. She glanced around the room at the other detention attendees and sneered. The only other people in the room were popular kids who only got detention for being assholes in class, specifically, assholes to whichever kid in the class had it roughest, which was usually her._

_She focused on the tiles, counting them as she did every time she was in detention, hoping each time that maybe the number would be different. But, nope, there were still 58 and ¼ tiles across the class ceiling, speckled with browns and greens. It was some sort of theme for all the science classrooms to be colored entirely in brown and green._

_After the third time counting the tiles in an hour, she reluctantly pulled out her laptop that she'd won in a bet and started to work on her homework. It was dull and brain numbing, but it at least distracted her from the way the kids in the front kept glancing back at her and smiling before giggling and whispering amongst themselves._

_She gave up on homework after 20 minutes and began to crack the firewalls of the schools to access the blocked websites, allowing her to provide herself some more entertainment. It didn't last long, however, when the teacher in charge of detention walked around the room and Mary was too distracted to notice and found a wrinkled hand on her shoulder and two greyish eyes glaring down at her as she surfed the web. _

_With a grimace, she closed her laptop and handed it to the teacher, thinking how no one appreciated her talents._

…

"Yo, Skye!" Triplett jogged up to Skye, an easy grin painted on his face. "I was wondering if you could do me a super small favor…?"

Skye titled her head to the side in contemplation. "Depends. What do you want?"

Triplett rubbed his palms together and pursed his lips. "I was wondering if there was any way you could hack your way into this flash drive for me. It was Garrett's and I need to know what's on it. I just don't want to make it some official mission, though. Things are still a little sore."

Skye hummed, shifting her gaze around the room before meeting Triplett's gaze. "Sure. And, I swear I won't look. I get the need to separate work from personal crap."

"Thanks, Skye. I seriously appreciate it." He handed the flash drive to her and she plugged it into the laptop sitting on the coffee table and began to hack it.

Flicking her eyes up to his once more, she smiled. "I'll get this back to you by tomorrow."

"You're the best, Skye."

Her lips opened to a toothy grin as she threw her hair over her shoulder. "I know." A sense of pride flared in Skye as she thought of the way her team appreciated her skill, and relied on it to.

…

"_You're sure this will work, Miles? I need to know that Mary Sue Poots will never have existed."_

_Miles shot her a confident smirk, rolling his eyes. "Relax, Skye. I taught you everything you need to wipe it all. You'll be impossible to identify. I swear."_

_Skye smiled nervously, toying with a loose strand of hair, before pressing a finger to the button on the keyboard that would start the scrub of any records on her, any pictures that might be out there. "Here goes nothing." She pressed down._

_Miles wrapped an arm around Skye's hip, tugging her to his side. "You know, you never did tell me why you started going by Skye. There's gotta be some symbolism there." She hummed, pressing her cheek to his chest as she watched the computer do its magic, erasing her existence. _

"_Foster kids generally have shit lives. I used to think there was no place to go but up. I don't know if I believe that anymore, but I know that the best place to see the world is from the sky. And maybe up in the clouds, I could see my past."_

…

"You've done a pretty lousy job of not existing you know. Ever since getting on SHIELD's radar, you've done nothing _but _exist." Ward crooked an eyebrow at Skye as she wrapped her fists for her training.

"It wasn't really the plan to be nonexistent. It was always about finding my origins. I couldn't do that if SHIELD always knew just who was looking. Besides, there's no way I would have stuck with the name the orphanage gave me. Not when kids called me 'toots'." Skye rolled her eyes, shoving away the cold trickle of anger at the kids that picked on little orphan Mary. "I gave myself the name Skye. So, Skye is who I am. I may not have a last name or even a name to put to my increasingly weird origins, but I have an identity." With a grin, she threw a punch at the punching bag, laughing at Ward's twitch of the lips in an almost smile. "And hey, I still have plans for my future."


	24. Honored

A/N: In response to a review I got today requesting I write something, I'm sad to inform you that I am no longer taking requests because I have the rest of the drabbles already planned out and I don't plan on going past 30 drabbles in the series. The 30th chapter/drabble _will _be the final drabble.

"Skye! We need those doors open 10 minutes ago!" Ward was frantic through the comms unit, the volume of his voice buzzing violently in Skye's ear.

She huffed, moving her fingers rapidly across the keyboard of her laptop as Ward continued to speak to her. "I'm typing as fast as I can. I'm going to break a finger soon. The doors are opening."

She waited for Ward's frantic voice to come through, or a joke from Triplett about how easy the mission was, but nothing came through. She tapped the piece in her ear, as if maybe her side had cut out, but nothing changed. Nothing, until she heard the hushed sound of bullets fired off, ricocheting and the sound fuzzy through the comms. "Guys? Guys, are you there? Please tell me you're there!" She waited, holding her breath and closing her eyes for a second in frustration.

"We're here," Ward's voice came through in a breathless rasp and Skye could almost see the sweat rolling off his skin in droplets, and his chest heaving with exertion. "But we're blocked off and they're closing in. The ICERs are empty."

The connection went quiet for another moment before the sounds of more guns firing filled her ear, along with the sound of a grunt of pain and the slap of a body falling to the floor.

Skye wiped furiously at her eyes, screaming into the comms. "What's happening? Tell me what's happening!" She jumped to her feet, readying herself to leave the safety of the van and storm in after them, when she fell forward, away from her body. The shock stopped her for a second, as she turned and stared at her body, standing frozen, eyes closed and lips open in the beginnings of a shout.

Tentatively, she stepped away, distancing herself from her own body and trying to grip the door, only to have her hand go right through it. With wide eyes, she jumped through and ran for the entrance to the building, not stopping to try the doors.

When she got inside, she turned down a long hallways, remembering from the layout that she was headed in the direction that Ward and Triplett should have been going. As she ran, she could hear nothing but the sound of her breath, in and out, in and out.

After a couple of minutes running in silence, she came upon a hall filled with guards, all pointing their guns toward the further side of the hall, where two forms could be seen peeking their heads from behind a corner to check the situation.

On instinct, Skye ran for her teammates, ready to see that they were ok and had some sort of escape plan, but as she neared, she saw that although Triplett was peeking occasionally from behind the corner, he was slumped against the wall, a hand pressing against his shoulder.

She slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle a cry before realizing that they couldn't see or hear her. The longer she stared, the more her anger built inside of her and oozed out, making her feel more solid, more tangible.

In a fit of rage, she ran back to where the guards were, still shooting, though the bullets passed through her as if she were a ghost. The bullets made no sound to her ears and there was no slap of her feet on the tiled floor as she ran. She reached for one of the shooters, concentrating all her anger on him, and punching him solidly across the face, knocking him to the ground. As he fell, he dropped his gun, leaving it available to her waiting hands. She fumbled to redirect her emotions and pick it up, trying several times before it was in her palms, closed by her slightly less opaque hands.

With a practiced hand, she turned the gun on the other guards, immediately shooting as many as she could in the arms. The guards soon realized that they were being shot at and turned in search of the shooter, only to see a gun floating in the air, precisely aimed at them. They turned their attention to shooting in Skye's direction, but nothing grazed her.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Skye saw Ward supporting Triplett and speedily making their way down the hall, while the guards continued to fire at her. She managed to disarm all but one, but by the time they realized that Ward and Triplett were escaping, they were already far enough away to get back to the van.

At knowing that they were safe, Skye felt her anger dissolve and roll off of her, like rain on a window. As it did, feeling started to return to her, making her limbs feel heavy and sore. She stumbled a few steps towards the direction of the exit, before collapsing to the ground, only to open her eyes before hitting the ground to find herself back in the van, her teammates on either side of her, staring.

"That was incredible, Skye." In her dizzy, exhausted state, she couldn't tell who had spoken, and as they started to talk more, she lost consciousness as the energy it had taken to use her powers had registered with her body.

…

Skye woke up in the med bay, her vitals listed on the screen next to the bed. As she came back to herself, she realized that someone was leaning against the bed. She turned to find Triplett, slumped in a chair with bandages around his shoulder. His mouth was open and snores emanated from his throat, filling the room with a deep, snorting sound.

She whacked him lightly across the chest, rousing him from sleep. "Hey, Trip. Wake up, dude. You snore like hell."

He blinked blearily up at her with a sleepy smile. "I am insulted. My snoring is not that loud."

"Sure." Skye rolled her eyes at him, a smile tugging at her lips. Her gaze turned concerned as she watched him wince slightly while shifting in his seat. "Are you ok? Shouldn't you be the one in this bed?"

He shook his head and rolled his uninjured shoulder. "Nah, I'll be fine. You're the one who was out for a good 20 hours. We couldn't get shit done without you to decrypt that information we got." He glared without heat before turning to face her more fully. "Seriously, though. We were a little worried. And a lot grateful. Ward and I would be road kill if you hadn't gone ghost like you did. You sure did leave a hell of a gooey black mess in the van, though."

She tilted her head to the side, her brows furrowed. "I don't know how I did it. It was like… all the anger I felt and the worry only made my powers more intense. And then afterwards, it's like I ran a marathon in 5 minutes."

He nodded contemplatively. "You were overexerting yourself. You managed to grab a gun and shoot it when for the last few months, you haven't been able to walk three steps away without blacking out back into yourself. You did something amazing back there, but now, you need to take it easy."

"Yeah…" She crinkled her nose in annoyance at having to 'take it easy' but didn't fight him on it. She was still way too tired to do little more than eat, sleep, and surf the web some. "Do I at least get my laptop? I don't want to be stuck down here without the internet."

He gave a short laugh, his smile widening. "I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I'll let the others know to bring down your dinner." His smile softened as he leaned closer. "I really am grateful, Skye. I know you'll wanna brush it off like it meant nothing, but what you did saved mine and Ward's lives."

"I'd do it for anyone I care about."

He hummed deeply in the back of his throat. "Then, I'm honored to have made the list."

Skye's smiled turned serious as she lightly pumped her shoulder with his. "You should be."


	25. Stories

"You know, I never really had the chance to take sick days when I was younger. The nuns at the orphanage were nice and all but they're weren't all that nurturing when a kid got sick and had to stay in bed all day." Skye spoke as the credits rolled to the fifth movie in a row she'd watched that day, leaning on her elbows while Triplett was sprawled across the couch, and arm thrown over his middle.

He hummed in agreement, his eyes flicking from the TV to Skye. "I never got sick much as a kid. I mean, unless my uncle came over and decided to cook. I don't know how he did it but he made macaroni and cheese taste like expired yogurt and undercooked hot dogs."

She cringed in disgust, imagining the disgusting smell that would have come from the rancid food. "Remind me never to agree to have dinner with your family if your uncle is there. I don't think my stomach could take it."

He smiled at her and laughed, deep and rich. "Got it. No dinners with Uncle Damien. But any other time is totally ok though, right?"

Skye nodded slightly. "Yeah. I've been meaning to let FitzSimmons introduce me to Fitz's mom and Simmons' parents. They've been trying to get me to come back with them over our next vacation break." She turned to face Triplett more fully, rolling on her stomach and blowing a strand of hair from her face. "You should come too. It'll be fun."

He pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "Depends. Do we get to visit where you used to live? Seems only fair if you get to see our pasts…" His tone was joking, but it was easy to see an underlying seriousness in his eyes. It wasn't always easy to acknowledge that people wanted to know about her past.

"Someday. Not sure if I'm ready to go back there yet. There are some memories I'd rather not relive. But yes, someday." She nodded, as if confirming to herself that she would, rather than Triplett.

"Well, when you do, be sure to invite me."

…

After a few more movies, Skye found herself dozing off into sleep, her eyelids heavy and her limbs like lead.

"Tell me a story, Trip." She blinked slowly as she spoke, a yawn making her voice airy.

With closed eyes, Triplett tapped his fingers against the arm rest of the couch, thinking. "Once upon a time, there was a terrible war going on. Soldiers were sent in huge amounts to fight a terrible evil. There was a thin, spindly man who dreamed of joining the cause, to prove himself. He was denied over and over, until a scientist saw something in him and gave him a chance." He yawned a jaw cracking yawn that reverberated in the air around his head. He shifted to lay on his side, cupping the side of his head with one hand.

"Now this man wasn't very strong, but he was given a chance to hold enormous power in him. At first, he had little chance to use the power he was given, but one day, he went against protocol and went to an enemy bade, where many soldiers were held captive, left to rot, or be experimented on. He saved them all…" He trailed off as sleep began to overtake him, laying waste to his consciousness. In a muttered voice, he spoke once more, "He saved my grandfather." It came out mumbled, like said through a thick fabric.

Skye smiled in her sleep, curling up as all her muscles relaxed simultaneously.

It was hours later, when Coulson came upon them, both sound asleep in the lounge that he noticed the TV still on, the menu for a DVD flickering across the screen.

…

The next day, after finding their way back to their bunks and falling asleep, they were sitting together in the lounge again, talking.

"Ok, 20 questions. Go."

"Really, what are you, 14?" Triplett playfully teased Skye, grinning at her mocking glare.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Seriously, though. Let's play a round. I'll go first. Hmm… Favorite color?"

He stroked his chin for a moment, thinking. "Green. Yours?"

"Purple. First kiss?" She grinned mischievously at him, tapping out a beat on the arm rest.

"Oh, you wanna go _there? _Ok, let's see… Her name was Amanda, I think. She had curly red hair and brown eyes. I think I was 12 when it happened. The kids on the playground dared us both. She was a good sport about it. Though she sure left a hell of a mark on my cheek after I accidentally stepped on her toe." He stared around the room, churning his thoughts for a question to ask. "I got it! First crush."

She scrunched up her face in playful annoyance before answering. "There was a boy at the orphanage when I was 13. He helped me up when I tripped on an old rug along the floor of the church the orphanage was attached to. Not a lot of people showed me as much kindness as he did, and I thought he was the greatest thing to happen to my poor, miserable life. His name was Danny." She paused, looking down with slightly saddened eyes. "He got adopted not long after arriving at the orphanage and I never saw him again, but I never forgot how nice he was to everyone, even when people picked on him, or teased him for being an orphan, like they did for me."

Triplett placed a comforting hand on Skye's shoulder, squeezing briefly in understanding. "Maybe one day you'll run into him again, and you can tell him what it meant to you, his kindness."

The corner of her lips turned up in a half smile, and her eyes got slightly glassy. "Yeah, maybe. He helped me develop the way I see the world now, and how I don't let things fester in me, usually. He showed me that there's no point in getting angry if it doesn't help anything."

Triplett smiled softly, squeezing her shoulder again before lifting his arm and throwing it over the back of the couch. "Well, we've got, what? 18 questions left?"

Skye nodded, her eyes wet and her smile grateful to him for listening. "Yup. And don't worry, we've got all night. We're not going anywhere until I know all your most embarrassing moments."

He groaned, throwing his unoccupied arm over his eyes. "You're gonna owe me some pretty juicy stories in return after this."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."


	26. In All the Ways that Matter

A/N: This started as I planned but ended so differently. I swear this was not supposed to be so sappy. Anyways, I have a proposition for everyone reading. For every 5 reviews I get on chapters 21-29 as they're posted, I will add 1000 words to the length of the final drabble. So far, I have it planned to be at least 3000 words. I'm not counting the reviews I've already gotten though.

"So, AC, when were you planning on telling me that the file I was hacking into for you was a file owned by a certain red and gold colored super hero?" Skye flashed a glare in Coulson's direction before returning her eyes to meet Tony Stark's, filled with delight.

He raised a finger in the air, as if pointing to the sky. "I have a question as well! When were you going to tell _me _that you're a. _alive _and b. that you've got an incredible hacker under your wing?"

Coulson rubbed his temple with both hands, fighting back a headache. "_Because, _Mr. Stark, I was not allowed to tell anyone in the Avengers initiative about my condition until recently, and because I knew you'd try and steal my protégé away from my team. _Please, _don't get any ideas about handing her a new job. Skye is very much needed here."

Tony lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender with an over exaggerated pout on his lips. "And here I thought I was the possessive one. Anyways, I'd still like to know the answer to miss hacker extraordinaire's question."

Skye tilted her head, letting her hair fall over her shoulder. "Same here, AC. Why exactly was a hacking into _his _security system in the first place?"

"Think of it as an evaluation, Skye. You're Level Three now and that means you have more standing in SHIELD than when you were only a consultant. SHIELD wants to know exactly _how _good of a hacker you are though. You are Level Three in a general standing, but your level doesn't describe your strongest ability, which is hacking. So, I had you try and hack Mr. Stark's security system."

Skye blinked up at Coulson, before letting her eyes slide over to Tony, who was staring at her appraisingly. "So did I do well?" It was the only thing she could think of to say in that moment, standing between her mentor and someone famous for his _everything. _

Coulson's lip twitched slightly upward at her response and he nodded, a gleam of pride in his eyes. "You did extremely well, Skye."

"I agree. I can't remember the last time someone was able to get through even the first firewall on my security system, and you managed to sneak through _three. _If I didn't know that Coulson would pout at me, I would definitely offer you a job at Stark Industries." Tony grinned at her, not even a little angry about the attempt to hack him. "I might steal you away every now and again to test some of my security systems though."

Skye smiled at Tony, the bit of fan girl in her from before her being recruited by SHIELD poking out from under the cool, calm, and confident demeanor she usually tried to portray. "Maybe during one of my vacations I'll take you up on that. I've always wanted to get inside the tower to be honest. And you have an AI, right? I'd love to see what makes your AI tick."

Tony rubbed his thumb with his index finger while his thumb cupped it. "Jarvis might have some objections to you taking _too _close of a look at his inner workings but I'd be happy to introduce you to Dummy, You, and Butterfingers. They love new people. Just don't get too close to them or they might spray you with the fire extinguisher."

Skye furrowed her brows contemplatively as she stared into space. Coulson took the lull in their dialogue to speak. "Anyways, I think it's about time we all get back to work, and for you, _Mr. Stark, _to head back."

Tony rolled his eyes and leaned back while stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You sure do have a stick up your ass, Coulson. Though strangely, it's not as big as it used to be." He turned his entire body to Skye, nodding his chin at her. "You. Skye, right? What has happened to dear Coulson here that has made him slightly less of a party pooper?"

Skye shrugged, confused since she'd only known him since she was recruited, which was after his death and subsequent revival. "No clue, Mr. Stark. He's been like he is as long as _I've _known him."

Tony hummed at her answer. His eyes flicked between Skye and Coulson before some realization lit up his eyes. "Call me Tony. Mr. Stark was my dad and yadda yadda yadda." He turned to Coulson, flashing a smug smile. "You know, Coulson, fatherhood suits you well. I get that 'Don't mess with my daughter' vibe from you. It's great. Pepper's gonna be really mad though. She would have wanted to be there when you became a daddy." His voice turned teasing as he continued, waving his hands around in the air for emphasis.

Skye watched on with wide, blinking eyes at Tony's words. She'd never openly expressed the way she had come to think of Coulson but there it was, in the way Tony teased him, openly saying what had been there a while. A somewhat shy smile bloomed as she met the eyes of Coulson, who was slightly gaping.

From his standing position in the room, Tony observed the two, noting the awkwardness at having their father/daughter like interactions pointed out. "I'm gonna head out now, but remember to call if you're ever in Miami or New York. Pepper will be extremely mad at you, Coulson for not telling her you're alive."

He walked out the door and closed it, only to open it again and poke his head inside. "And if you ever decide to sign the adoption papers, let me know. Pepper would love to be there."

The two agents stared after him as he once again made his departure, before facing each other once again, silently staring. Skye was the first to break the silence. "It's… ok if you don't actually think of me like that. I mean, Tony Stark was probably just joking. It's not important…" She trailed off before tucking a strand of her behind her ear.

Coulson's brow furrowed as he stared at the woman before him, so much more assured in herself than she used to be, and yet still so insecure in the way she thinks others see her. He reached out and pulled her into a hug, initiating it when usually, he'd be on the receiving end of one. "You are my daughter, Skye, in all the ways that matter."

"I've never had a dad before." Her voice was muffled through the fabric of Coulson's suit jacket, and slightly thick with tears.

"You have one now, Skye. Don't forget that. It doesn't matter whether you call me AC, or Coulson, or Sir, or any other title or nickname. We're family."

Skye nodded into his jacket, hugging him just that bit tighter, knowing that all the pieces of her life that had seemed so unreachable when she was alone in the orphanage or in her van, working for the Rising Tide, were falling into place. All the pieces of herself that she thought were too broken to fix were more together than at any other time in her life. And that meant so much.


	27. Fight the Dark

A/N: **WARNING! REFERENCES TO ABUSE ARE IN THIS CHAPTER!** They're not explicit references but I want to make clear for anyone reading that may not want to read this chapter.

"Come on, Skye, you're drunk." Ward wrapped an arm around Skye's side, supporting her and walking slowly towards Skye's bunk. "You have had way too much to drink."

Skye giggled slightly, a few hiccups escaping her lips. "You," hiccup "are" hiccup "such" hiccup hiccup "a downer!" She smiled widely at Ward, her eyes glazed in disorientation. As they moved forward a few more steps, Skye stumbled forward slightly, only to be caught by Ward's arms. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"You're quite the giggly drunk, huh, Skye?" He watched amusedly as she began to laugh at some hilarious joke inside her head.

As her laughter died down, she stared up at Ward with open eyes. "It's better than being a mean drunk!" As if the words were some kind of joke, she burst into laughter again, only quieting when they reached her bunk and Ward helped her to lay down. Ward stared pensively at her, wondering at her previous words. As he left the bunk, leaving only some water and painkillers on her dresser, he made a note to himself.

…

Skye woke with a throbbing headache, pressing her hand to her forehead automatically. As her eyes cracked open blearily, she noticed the glass of water and painkillers and mentally thanked whoever had the honor of helping her back to her bunk in her drunk stupor. Her mind was muddled as she sat up, taking the medicine and gulping down the water with fervor.

She sat in her bed a few minutes, trying to bring her memories from the previous night to surface. She remembered a lot of dancing and a lot of beers, thrown back during a toast to the birthday boy, Fitz. She remembered hugging a lot of people and placing sloppy kisses on various cheeks. Skye blushed slightly, realizing she didn't get drunk very much around them so they hadn't seen much of how affectionate of a drunk she could be. She groaned as she remembered arms guiding her back to her bunk and catching her when she almost fell.

And then she remembered what she said about mean drunks. And who she said it too. She slapped over her face, dragging it down her face tiredly. She almost didn't notice the knock that came to her door.

"Skye?" Ward's voice was muffled through the door.

In response, Skye grumbled out something that sounded more or less like "Come in." The door opened and Ward stepped through, a slight frown etching his features.

"How do you feel?"

"Like shit. I think I drank enough for a small country." She rubbed at her temple, blinking irritably at the light coming from outside her bunk.

"You kind of did." Ward glanced to the door before meeting her eyes. "Hey, Skye? I was wondering about something you said last night, about mean drunks?"

She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, sighing. "Of course you are." She sounded tired, and defeated in that moment. Before continuing, she stared a moment at her feet. "You know that I grew up in an orphanage called St. Agnes. And I told you once a little but about the Brodys… and how they didn't want me. I just… I never told you about the families that weren't nice enough to just send me back when they decided I wasn't right. There was this one family. The mother there had three of her own kids and she also housed two other foster kids. Her husband was never around because he went on a lot of business trips. And he wasn't a problem. I only ever met him once. But she… she wasn't nice when she had something to drink. She was bearable most of the time, but when she had a little too much…" Skye trailed off, her voice taking on a hollow quality and a shadow coming over her face as she spoke.

The room was filled with silence as they stared, unsure of what to say next. It was Ward who spoke then, "My parents never noticed anything. They didn't care what my older brother did, as long as he never got caught. He could have robbed a bank and they wouldn't have cared. They'd only care if it got them some cash to blow on expensive wine and overnight trips to Vegas."

Ward sat on the edge of her bed, slapping his hands softly against his legs. "I don't talk a lot about my family and I'm sure you can guess why. I just thought… maybe you'd like to know that our pasts weren't so different, despite the fact that I wasn't an orphan."

With a tentative hand, Skye reached out and touched his shoulder, drawing her fingers in soothing circles. "I do appreciate that." She looked away in thought for a moment before turning her gaze to Ward's back. "You know, I never expected that when I found out where I came from, it would be from some monster. I thought maybe my birth parents were criminals or in some sort of protective program, but I never thought they might be _actual _monsters, like with weird powers and all. And when I found out… it made me question who _I _am. Sometimes I wish I didn't have any powers at all because then I could see myself in the mirror instead of _them. _It's not all the time, but I see them in the mirror, black dripping from their face and hair, and it scares me. It scares the hell out of me."

"Sometimes I look in the mirror and see my older brother, or my parents. I see all the things he made me do, and I can't stand it. If that superstition about breaking mirrors was true, I'd be in for at least 21 years bad luck."

Skye sighed, closing her eyes and bowing her head. "I'm scared of becoming like them, like the monsters out there that hide in the dark and hurt people without remorse. I don't want to be that."

Ward shifted to wrap an arm around Skye's shoulder, pulling her into his side comfortingly. "We're both seriously screwed up, but one thing I can say without an ounce of doubt, is that you will never be a monster. You will never be a culmination of the people that hurt you when you were younger, or the actions your parents may have committed. You're so much more than that."

Skye raised her head and stared into his eyes searchingly. Her brow was furrowed as she looked for something, and when she found it, she burrowed her face into his shoulder. "The same goes for you, Ward. You're not a monster or a robot, like I sometimes call you. I know you Ward, and there's good in you."

Skye and Ward sat there, just taking comfort in the other's presence, knowing that heroes and monsters alike are made, not born, and that they can fight the darkness.


	28. Limitations

A/N: Hi! I just want to say how grateful I am for the love I've received for this story recently. I also want to warn you guys that I won't be posting the last chapter tomorrow, only the 29th chapter. I'm assuming that the last chapter will end up somewhere around 5000 words total and I don't have the time tomorrow to write that much. I will try and get it posted on Wednesday so it isn't too long after the season premiere tomorrow but know that this is a busy week for me. Anyways, enjoy!

"Skye, your DNA is gorgeous, I must say!" Jemma was smiling ear to ear as she examined the screen with Skye's DNA.

From across the room, Fitz piped up. "It took forever to get the lab results back from the deep analysis, though. Under any normal analysis, you can't even see the differences between you DNA and some plain human DNA. It's really quite fascinating, really." He held a test tube up to his eyes and swished it, watching for any changes.

Skye rolled her eyes, somewhat bored watching her DNA on the screen. To her, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but to them, something was obviously different. "You see, Skye, right there!" Simmons pointed to the screen excitedly, nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I don't really know what I'm looking at, guys. I'm a computer science genius, not _robotics _or _chemistry _science. I'm way out of my league here."

Fitz smiled gently before shifting to stand next to Skye and point to the screen with Skye. "See that there? You couldn't even _see _that on the analysis we did on your blood after your recovery from the gunshots a few years back. And we could only actually see it after your first time using your powers. It's incredible."

Skye cocked her head to the side, squinting at the screen with a degree more of interest. "So, do you guys have any idea what it is exactly that gives me my powers? I mean, obviously get it from my parent, but is there some science-y reason?"

"Oh! Well, we aren't _quite _sure as of right now what exactly enables your abilities but-"

"-but it's obvious that whatever it is allows you to endure much more than a normal human and-"

"_-and, _is influenced mainly by your emotions. We're about to test the sample we took from you with chemicals related to certain emotions and see what it does." Simmons finished the thought as she held up a syringe of liquid in front of her face. "When people get angry, a stress hormone called cortisol is released into the body and can cause bouts of energy, though it can equally be harmful. Because your abilities seem to be stemmed in your emotions, we want to test other chemicals related to emotions-"

"-such as adrenaline. It's incredibly fascinating how your powers enable you to step out of your corporeal form and walk away from it—like a ghost. It's completely we've never seen before just _think _of all the scientific advancements that could be made with this if we're able to figure it out!" Fitz gestured wildly with his hands in excitement as Skye blinked owlishly at him.

"That's… great. But, is there anything you could figure out to help me _control _my super freaky mutant powers. I mean, using them is great and all, but I still can't properly control when I'm able to use them. I can't exactly rely on getting angry every time…" Skye nervously shifted from foot to foot as she spoke, pointedly ignoring the worried looks she was getting from FitzSimmons.

Simmons and Fitz went to either side of her and each placed a gentle hand on her shoulders. "What's wrong, Skye?"

"You know how in movies, when the main character suddenly gets these amazing abilities, everything seems awesome at first, right? But then, their powers go haywire, and their powers become more of a nightmare than a dream."

Jemma furrowed her brow, glancing at Fitz from over Skye's shoulder. "You know, Skye, those movies are so unrealistic. This is actual science we're talking about. We will help you find the limitations of your powers. We've already seen that overexertion can cause a major depletion of your energy but we know that there must be more. We will do everything in our power to help you know your powers."

"But what about if something goes wrong? What if one day I use them, and I'm unable to get back to my body. I've never exactly tested the limits to how far I can go from my body before it either snaps me back or locks me out." Skye bit her bottom lip, her nerves showing in her tense shoulders and her anxious eyes.

Fitz wrapped an arm around her shoulder and rubbed up and down, Simmons mimicking him with her arm. It was Fitz who next spoke, practically whispering. "You know, Skye, we _will _figure these things out. If we can isolate what causes your abilities, we'll be able to create a serum to administer to test subjects, like rats, and we'll figure it out. You won't have to do this alone."

"You're never alone Skye. We would never risk you, even for all the scientific advancement in the world. You're worth so much more. And if there are limitations, you'll be the first to know after we find them. Your powers are incredible, but they aren't worth losing you by any accident." Simmons leaned her head against Skye's hugging her slightly.

"With these crazy abilities, I feel kinda like it's my responsibility to use them. You know what I said to Mike Peterson the first time I met him? I told him, 'With great power comes... a ton of weird crap you are not prepared to deal with.' I'm pretty sure it applies even more now than it did back then. It's insane. What are the odds I'd be some mutant and be recruited by SHIELD?"

Fitz pursed his lips in thought. "You know, I think the chances were in your favor. SHIELD attracts the most interesting people you'll ever know. It wasn't just likely that you'd find your way into SHIELD, being your not-quite-human self. It was probable. I will say this, though. Mutant or not, you're a great part of this team, and a great friend."

Skye smiled, feeling somewhat reassured. At her smile, her shoulders dropped, relaxing and slouching slightly. "Thanks guys."

"Our pleasure, Skye. Now! Shall we begin tests?"

Skye rolled her eyes, her smile turning lopsided. "Sure. Let's see what I'm made of."


	29. Introductions

A/N: I know this is incredibly short, but it's the lead in to the final chapter. The last chapter will be up sometime between tomorrow and Saturday.

-2022-

"_We walk the path of heroes, big and small, every day in what we do. Where extraordinary things happen, we will be there. We stand as Earth's defense against the unknown, and the welcome to the incredible. We are more than spies or secret agents. We are heroes. We are SHIELD."_

The voice rang out through the building, filling its halls with the power and confidence that only a high level SHIELD agent could portray. On one of the many monitors situated around the building to deliver important notifications and speeches, a woman dressed in a simple knee length, purple dress stood at a podium, her hair braided and swept over one shoulder. Her smile was infectious, drawing smiles of all the other agents that stood around her, waiting patiently to hear her next words.

The voice came filtered through the screen, leaving the audio slightly less smooth, but her words still easy to hear. _"As many of you know, my own heritage is nothing short of weird. And the chances of me being what I am today was something close to a miracle for me. I spent years searching for family, and I found it here, within SHIELD. Our family started much differently than most, however. I was kidnapped from a van and interrogated, only to by the end of the day be offered a consulting job. I found family in the man who gave me a chance and saw something in me when no one else did and the people who treated me like a sibling, a friend. You may ask me, 'Why are you here today?" and I'll tell you. I am here today because the man who treated me like a daughter, who gave me a home on a plane is Phil Coulson, one of your two new co-directors of SHIELD." _

A man on the screen grinned from behind her, waving slightly to the audience. He rose from his seat and stood to the podium, wrapping an arm around the woman in a one armed hug. _"I'd like to thank this incredible agent for her introduction, as well as say that she is one of the best people I've met. When I recruited her for my team several years ago, I aimed to help change her life, but she helped change mine. My sincerest thanks to you, Agent Skye Avery, for sharing the beginning of your story with me."_


	30. From Orphan to Agent

A/N: This is really late, and not as long as I planned, but here it is! To make up for the shorter length, I'll eventually write a mini drabble series in the same universe relating to other characters of the team.

Anyways, I want to thank everyone that's read this series and reviewed it. For me, this was such a fun thing to do when I had the time. I hope you all enjoy the ending to my Skye-centric drabble series and look out for my next drabble series as well as other one-shots I may or may not be writing… Without further ado, the finale.

* * *

><p>"<em>So what happened to her?"<em>

Feet pounding against a rough terrain and the whir of an engine echo through the air, filling the space with sound.

"_She's level nine now. She works directly with Directors Coulson and Hill most of the time."_

Two shots, carefully fired, hit their target, knocking them out cold, providing time for extraction.

"_Her name is pretty interesting. Skye Avery. It's like her name emphasizes flight."_

The jet takes off, narrowly avoiding the fire of a bomb being launched.

"_From what I've heard, she adopted the name for the agent that rescued her when she was a baby, the one who died protecting her."_

Her eyes latch onto the sky, her hands firmly around the controls, piloting the jet away with the ease of a practiced hand.

"_How fitting."_

A young man dressed in a cap and gown walks down a narrow length of carpet, making his way towards a stage, where his father, with his prosthetic leg and hair growing over his scarred scalp, stands, smiling with all the pride a father can portray. On his father's right is Skye, dressed formally and grinning from ear to ear for the boy she reunited with his father.

"_I heard that she doesn't do quite as many field missions. Mostly hacking for the last year."_

As Ace accepts his diploma, he wraps his arms around Skye and his father in a group hug, and whoops out loud for his classmates to hear. Soon, he'll be on his way to the SHIELD Academy.

"_She's started doing a few classes at the Academy. I heard she wants to be there to help teach a pupil she knows."_

She stands at the front of a classroom, informing her students about the basics of espionage in hacking. They are given an hour to hack into a hard drive that Skye's encrypted herself, though not as extensively as she would an actual hard drive with valuable information.

Little by little, the students manage to decrypt the drives, unlocking a document with their first assignment, and those who don't must start a new hack from scratch in order to hone their abilities under pressure.

"_And what about her, you know… abilities. I know their sort of top secret, but us being level 7s and all, I have to wonder how much she actually uses them."_

Inside a thick, metal box, Skye stands, hands poised in front of her and eyes closed in concentration. With a practiced spin, she walks through the tightly sealed box, leaving her body behind to be safe inside the hidden box. Sensations leaves her as she walks, a lightness entering her every step as she makes her way towards the objective, calm and collected.

"_Rumor has it that her powers can be pretty draining if she uses them too long, and can have an… ugly side effect."_

She watches the clock religiously, counting down her time limit before she needs to return to her body, plucking her ICER from her hiding spot with the ease of a skilled hand, clicking all the components into place.

"_Have you heard about her birth parent? I heard that they don't look quite as human as Agent Avery does."_

Inside the box where her body waits, black starts to build underneath her finger nails and from her hairline, sliding down her skin in thin, watery lines. Under her feet, black begins to pool, adhering her shoes to the ground of the box. The longer she is away, the quicker the ooze flows.

"_Nobody's ever seen him besides Agent Avery. It's all rumors. You have to take everything with a grain of salt. Who knows what her father actually looks like?"_

Delicately holding a briefcase, Skye pushes her way through doors and windows, using all her concentration to stay solid so as not to leave the suitcase behind. As she approaches the locked metal box containing her body, she drops the briefcase in a bush a few feet away in order to retrieve it in a moment. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes and opens them to the sight of thick, gray metal.

With a swipe of her hand, she smudges the ooze across her forehead and rubs her hands against her pants before unlocking and leaving the box, quickly grabbing the briefcase and calling in for extraction.

"_You'd think that she'd be this cold, calculating person considering everything you hear about her. All of her esteem and ability makes for a pretty imposing person. But, I've been to one of her lectures. She's funny. And loves pranking her students. She's pretty compassionate in person. She makes friends with most people she meets. There's something about her that you want to be around."_

She wraps her arms around FitzSimmons, congratulating them on another successful breakthrough, laughing as they tell a corny joke about some famous scientist.

Their smiles are wide, near blinding in how enthusiastic they are. The three friends talk for hours, ranging from discussion of TV shows, to computers, to Skye and Jemma's new haircuts. Fitz smiles fondly as two of his closest friends discuss their need for a change and pipes in with ideas for a hair styling machine.

Hours later, Skye steps away, wishing them a goodnight before taking a walk around the party room, hugging all her friends and acquaintances as she goes, promising to meet up with them all soon to catch up on their lives.

Next, she says a goodbye to May, who stands vigilant as ever at the edge of the floor, poised with a champagne flute in one hand and the other rested against the dark satin and velvet of her dress. The two agents discuss upcoming missions, comparing them against the missions from before, on the BUS.

With a promise of meeting up for some meditation, Skye wanders off once more, eyes locking on Ward and Triplett.

The two males brag to each other in a very male show of pride, always trying to one up each other. Their conversation remains friendly however, and as Skye walks up to them, Triplett smacks Ward across the back lightly with a laugh.

They turn to greet Skye, smiling affectionately. Without hesitation, Skye draws them into a hug, her arms only reaching the back of one of each of their shoulders. With a chaste kiss to each of their cheeks, she departs with a flourish.

Lastly, she finds Coulson, looking slightly stressed, but proud all the same, a tired smile etched across his features.

She hugs him tightly, telling him to take a vacation soon because he's overworked, and maybe his vacation should be a field operation with her, like when she was still just a rookie. He amends that it sounds like a good idea and of course, he needs to get back in the field and work out the kinks in his bones from being slumped over a desk many days.

With an extracted promise for him to find some fun, she kisses him on the cheek, thanking him with a 'See you later D.C.'

As she walks through the doors to the grand hall, she smiles, her eyes already drooping with the allure of a good night of sleep.

"_I have to wonder how she stays so positive and sane. She's a great agent, but she's seen more shit than a lot of agents twice her age."_

The door shuts behind her with a resounding slam. Skye drops her purse to the ground by the door, kicking off her shoes and throwing a hand towards a light switch, _any _light switch. She's still not used to her new apartment; not used to the flowered wall paper, or the gray, shabby couch. She hates long missions more than others.

She misses the sound of the BUS engines and the feeling of takeoff. Skye realizes that there's a jet only a few miles away that's just waiting for her once she finishes the mission, but after three months, she's nearly desperate enough to just fly away.

It's the mission especially that's dragging down her positivity. There's an itch under her fingernails that just won't come out and a weight in the pit of her stomach rolling every time she shifts. Her eyelids are heavy, but not with sleep. She can feel her skin prickling under her maroon dress. With a heavy gaze, she looks at her palms, which keep clenching, her index finger closing just a little more than the others.

She doesn't take these missions often. She's never been comfortable in going and taking out a threat. Of course, she always has her ICER, but sometimes, the targets are too dangerous, have caused too much danger to all around, that they need to be taken out. She wishes it never had to be her to do it but at the same time is glad the burden is not on someone else's shoulders.

A stray tear draws a path down her cheek as she stands in her small, rundown apartment. She takes a deep breath before letting her knees wobble and staggering to the couch, dropping down and crying. All at once, she lets everything out and just cries.

The next morning, she tucks everything away and goes to work, finding comfort in the almost imperceptible looks her fellow agents give her as they subtly corner the target. She misses her family, but the agents she's gotten to know over the last few months provide a small amount of familiarity.

After it's all over, Skye jumps into a jet, hurrying back to the Academy, where she knows she'll be greeted and welcomed with affection.

"_It's crazy, the kind of life SHIELD agents live. For most people, a life as an agent means a lot of sacrifice. I wonder what she sacrificed when she committed."_

Sometimes Skye wonders what her life would be if she had never been found by SHIELD. She supposes that she would have ended up on the road, still living in her van, tirelessly searching for answers that are nowhere near as satisfactory as finding a family in her team.

The idea of never knowing the people she cares most about baffles her to her core. She can't think about it without feeling relief that she does know them.

All the same, it's a thought that happens often.

She thinks of her friends, FitzSimmons, Ward, Triplett, among others who endeared themselves in her heart. She thinks of May, who was a mentor and trainer to her, providing her with someone that can relate. She thinks of Coulson, who besides being her confidante, was also the closest she ever had to a parent.

In her mind, they are the brightest part of her life, the best thing to happen to her. She doesn't know who she'd be without them.

Of course, she thinks of the things that she's given up because of SHIELD. She doesn't get to be careless around any cameras. She has to maintain any and all covers she has. She doesn't have many lazy Sundays in bed, just watching movies and eating all the sugar she can find. She doesn't have much of a romantic life.

At a time, her and Ward tried a relationship, but it didn't work for several reasons, and they returned to being friends.

She thinks maybe, if the both of them lived different lives, it could have worked. They could have met at some park, him throwing a Frisbee to his dog and her too busy checking the time on her phone to notice the Frisbee coming right for her head. They could have dated like normal people and it could have been good.

But maybes and could have beens aren't worth dwelling on.

She thinks she's ok not being with anyone. She thinks that if romance is meant to happens, it'll happen. She won't go chasing it and she won't strive to be in love.

There are times that Skye feels longing for that sort of life, the one of romantic beginnings and happy endings, but she knows she couldn't trade the life she has for anything.

"_Everyone sacrifices something for this life, but who's to say she didn't get more out of it than she gave up for it?"_

She stands in front of hundreds of agents, Coulson carefully dropping a medal for her service and her dedication. She smiles with tears in her eyes as her friends, her _family _smiles up at her from the front row, each of them radiating pride.

It's been more than 10 years since they found her. She's come a long way from the orphan searching for her past. She found more than that. She found her future, and a family to share it with.

As she thanks Coulson for her award, she thinks of her journey, from orphan to agent, and how now, as Skye Avery, she is more than she ever thought she could be.


End file.
